


Game-Tsuna

by Code_Gray



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Different Vongola Guardians (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Disciplinary Committee Sawada Tsunayoshi, Dying Will Flames (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Dying Will Flames (Katekyou Hitman Reborn) Are Magic, F/M, Friendship, Gamer AU - Freeform, Gamer!Tsuna, Gen, Humor, If you comment a suggestion I might use it, Unconventional Uses for Dying Will Flames, Video Game Mechanics, ascended extras, because i can thats why, bigger vongola, but its gonna take a while, but not a whole lot, dungeon-crawling, guardian!kyoko, how do you write fight scenes, i havent finished khr but this gives me the motivation, i like 2795 and i do not apologize, liberal use of the inventory, no beta we die like men and/or women, open to suggestions but no promises, reborn shows up in second year, redemption arcs all over the place, sorta - Freeform, takes place in like 2012, there will be stupid jokes and puns, theyre like 12, tri-ni-sette's a hell of a drug, tsuna just started middle school, updates sporodically at best, video game classes, video game party system
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:40:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 26,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23164138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Code_Gray/pseuds/Code_Gray
Summary: Tsuna is competent at one thing, and one thing alone: video games. So it's practically a dream come true when a magic book lets him become a video game character. Along the way, he gathers friends, becomes stronger, and goes from dame... to game.in short tsuna becomes the gamer but things are a bit more balanced and different than both The Gamer and KHR
Relationships: Everyone & Everyone, Kurokawa Hana & Sasagawa Kyouko, Kurokawa Hana & Sasagawa Kyouko & Sawada Tsunayoshi, Kurokawa Hana & Sawada Tsunayoshi, Sasagawa Kyouko & Sawada Tsunayoshi, Sasagawa Kyouko/Sawada Tsunayoshi, Sawada Iemitsu/Sawada Nana, Sawada Tsunayoshi & Vongola Tenth Generation Guardians
Comments: 94
Kudos: 252





	1. Press Start

Useless. No-good. Dame. Loser. All words that could be used to describe Tsunayoshi Sawada, age twelve, commonly known as Tsuna. And the words were accurate. Sitting on the floor of his room, contemplating the ceiling, the young preteen mentally listed all the things he was good at. _Getting beat up, losing sports games, failing tests, forgetting my homework, getting myself hurt, having no friends… Yep, great list there, truly awe-inspiring._ Sighing and pushing his gravity-defying hair back, Tsuna turned to the one thing he owned that would always brighten his day: a gift from his mother on his twelth birthday, a GameKid. Video games were the only item on the list of things he was competent in. And even then, it was only because he could keep trying until he failed, or reached a puzzle he couldn’t solve, often the first puzzle in any given game. But still, he played his games, the adventures, abilities, and art filling his brain with dreams of travelling alongside his companions, to save the world. And then he would wake up, fall down the stairs and stumble through school, go home and play games, and sleep. Only a week into the school year, and he wanted it to be done. Standing up off the floor, only to turn off the lights and fall in his bed, Tsuna sighed again. _At least tomorrow is Sunday. I can sleep in and play video games._ With that final thought, sleep took him.

-X-

Waking up with a stretch, Tsuna blinked the sunlight and sleepiness from his eyes. And then blinked again. And a third time, before responding in a more intelligent way. “HIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!”

Said way was screeching at the top of his lungs, only stopping when his mother threw his door open and an odd wave of calm overtook him. “Tsuna? What’s wrong?” Nana Sawada, Tsuna’s mother, may not have been the absolute best mother, but even she would be worried if her son woke up screeching. Following Tsuna’s outstretched finger and wide-eyed gaze, she saw what had frightened him. …

Nothing. Turning to her son, she asked, “Tsu-kun, are you feeling okay?” Tsuna’s head swiveled between his mother and space in front of him, before he took a shaky breath. “I’m fine. I think I had a nightmare, that’s all.” Nana, apparently convinced, shook her head with a fond smile and went downstairs to make breakfast. Tsuna, now alone, turned to look at what had startled him so. A notebook with an orange cover and black inscription of a flame on the front, floating in the air above his bed. Throwing off the covers, he sat up and reached for it. As soon as he got within a few centimeters, the book flew into his hands, and opened to the middle of the book. Looking closer, he realized the left page had writing, while the right page had a full body picture of him in his pajamas. On the right of his picture were some gray boxes, two in the middle containing his pajama top and bottom. Deciding the left page was more important, he turned his head slightly and read.

**NAME: TSUNAYOSHI SAWADA**

**TITLE: NO-GOOD TSUNA**

**CLASS: N/A**

**LEVEL: 1**

**EXP: 0/50**

**HP 50/50**

**[REDACTED] 0/0**

**SP 25/25**

**STR 3**

**END 5**

**AGI 2**

**WIS 5**

**INT 3**

**CHA 1**

Quiet, confused staring was interrupted by the book suddenly flipping its pages to the end.

**[Welcome, [TSUNAYOSHI SAWADA}! You have unlocked [THE GAME], a unique phenomenon that allows users to learn and improve in any area at incredible speed, and become [THE GAMER]! Would you like a tutorial?]**

“Why is the book saying ‘welcome’ at the end? Oh, wait, it’s in American style. Right, the tutorial. Uh…yes.”, answered Tsuna, recovering from the shock of pages rapidly flipping. This time, the page only turned once.

**[[THE GAME] allows [THE GAMER] to live as if they were a video game character, converting damage taken, overall health, and the users growth into quantifiable values represented through numbers. All of [THE GAMER]’s information is stored in this journal, invisible to those who are unaware of [THE GAME], indestructible, always within reach, and only accessible to [THE GAMER]. To open or close your [STATUS], simply say or think ‘status’. Try it now!]**

Nothing to lose, and very little to gain, Tsuna focused and thought, ‘Status.’ He decided to think it instead of saying it, in order to not alert his mother, who would probably be worried if he began talking to himself after screaming when he woke up. He was only slightly surprised when it worked, the page rapidly flipping to the page with the numbers and his picture, before rapidly flipping back towards what was apparently the front, only to a different page.

**[The [STATUS] Menu shows the health, stamina, [REDACTED], level, title, class, stat points, and experience required to level up. The average stat, for average individuals, is 10.**

**[STR] increases lifting strength, physical attack, and throwing.**

**[END] increases resistance to damage and pain, [SP], and [HP]. You gain 10 points of [HP] per point of [END], as well as 5 points of [SP]. Also affects [HP] and [SP] regeneration.**

**[AGI] increases speed of movement, dexterity, balance, attack speed, and accuracy.**

**[WIS] increases your ability to use your intelligence correctly, as well as your [REDACTED] regeneration.**

**[INT] increases your thinking ability, as well as planning abilities and your [REDACTED] pool.**

**[CHA] increases your ability to act in social situations, convincing others of things, gaining followers and social standing, and increasing reputation.**

**[THE GAMER] also possesses an [INVENTORY], a pocket dimension capable of holding an almost infinite number of objects. The [SKILS] Menu showc** **ases skills, divided into the categories [PASSIVE], [CRAFTING], [MOVEMENT], [PHYSICAL COMABT], [[REDACTED] COMBAT], [SUPPORT], and [MISC]. The creation of a [SKILL] is done through levelling up your class, repeating an action, reading a book, or being taught. In addition, [THE GAMER]’s journal has access to the [MAP], [QUEST LOG] [RELATIONSHIPS], [ENCYCLOPEDIA], and [HELP] sections. NOTE: You have not completed the class [QUEST]. NOTE: You may not change the settings.]**

Tsuna blinked, brain trying to intake all that information. Again, an odd wave of calm came over him. Taking a deep breath, Tsuna decided to experiment with the journal. Fifteen minutes later, he discovered very little. All his stats were below average, and the only maps he had were [SAWADA RESIDENCE], [NAMIMORI ELEMENTARY], [NAMIMORI MIDDLE], and [NAMIMORI, JAPAN]. [RELATIONSHIPS] showed he had 350/500 with his mother, which was… uninformative, considering she was the only entry. [QUEST LOG] showed no quests, which made sense. [ENCYCLOPEDIA] was empty. [HELP] just had answers to some basic questions covered in the tutorial. [INVENTORY] showed a five by five square of gray squares on the left page, and the picture of himself and the gray boxes from [STATUS] on the right. This time, he counted the boxes. There were ten, six on the left side of the page, three below, one the right. It was in [SKILLS], though, that he made a small bit of progress.

**[GAMER’S MIND] (Passive) LEVEL MAX**

**Resistance to fear and mental effects.**

**[GAMER’S BODY] (Passive) LEVEL MAX**

**Damage is converted to reductions HP and visible, though non-life threating, wounds such as bruises or cuts. Visible wounds heal rapidly outside of combat.**

**[REDACTED] (Special) LEVEL 0**

**Increase chance to sense danger, illusions, [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] , as well as resist mental effects and illusions. Activated, boosts [WIS] by 500%. Current activation chance: 1%.**

Three skills right now. Sure one was level 0, and two apparently only had one level, but something clicked when he read them. The waves of calm he had been experiencing, those had to have been Gamer's Mind. He couldn't test whatever [REDACTED] was, because he didn't know what it was. Probably that way for all the redacted things.

**[FOR FIGURING SOMETHING OUT, YOU HAVE GAINED 1 [INT]! [HELP] TAB HAS BEEN UPDATED.]**

Tsuna took a moment flinch at the not-thought -cold and artificial, sounding like a weird silent robot spoke in his mind- that invaded his head. Holy crap. He could increase his stats like that? He must have been able to, it just happened. The fact that it took something so trivial to improve was a little less good. Standing up, he moved to his desk. _This is either a bad idea or good one._ With that, he lifted his textbook, unopened since the start of the year, and threw it on his bare foot.

**[-2 HP]**

Opening his Status warranted the sight of a health bar showing **[48/50]**.

This was real. he could gain skills, get stronger, smarter, faster, he could

_die if he reached zero hp_

The thought struck him swiftly and from no where. This- this was real. He could see his health bar, and understand how close he was to ~~**_death_**~~. Normal middle schoolers didn't think about that. Before he could go into a panic attack, a third wave of calm came over him. So he was in danger of dying. Who wasn't? He was just more aware of it than anyone else. But he couldn't let a _what-if_ stop him. This was his chance to stop Dame-Tsuna, he could be something else he could be

_Game-Tsuna._

Much like the thought before, this one came from nowhere, except it made him give out a snort of laughter. Like that name was much better, but at least it still with the first. Nodding in resolution, he momentarily stopped at a new not-thought- he was probably just going to call them notifications.

**[FOR MAKING A DECISION WITH RESOLUTION, YOU HAVE GAINED 1 POINT OF [WIS] AND 1 POINT OF [CHA].]**

Shaking his head slightly, he moved to his dresser. One pair of jeans and black t-shirt later, he made his way downstairs to breakfast. Unfortunately, his AGI was still terrible, so he slipped and fell down the second half.

**[FOR REPEATING AN ACTION, YOU HAVE GAINED A NEW SKILL]**

**[PHYSICAL ENDURANCE] (Passive) LEVEL 1**

**Pain is a part of growth. Experience pain, and mature into a [MAN]. 1% resistance to pain and physical damage.**

Tsuna got a bad feeling that skill was going to be his most useful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This the first real fic I’ve ever actually written. This idea has been knocking around in my head for a few weeks, so I thought I should put it on paper.  
> A few things first: The timeline for Reborn isn’t all that clear, so… surprise, this is an AU now. The year is 2012, Tsuna just started his first year of middle school, and Reborn arrives sometime in year two. The reason why I did this is because I can.
> 
> I will be taking one note, secondary, and supporting characters and bringing them to the forefront (cough kyokohanaharubianchi cough)
> 
> While watching a character immediately be able to defeat anyone is cool, this iteration of the Gamer will be more balanced. How? You’ll have to read and find out.
> 
> Next chapter is familiarization, skill development, and *GASP* the inclusion of characters?! oh whoever could they be i have no idea read the relationships and tags and find out wow
> 
> Sarcasm aside, I think Kyoko and Hana are underutilized. We know very little about them in the manga- unless something changed between chapter ~200 and the end. Nevertheless, so little is known about them, any characterization might be correct. Unless I'm wrong, in that case tell me I'm wrong. Or don't, this is an AU, its my way or the highway.
> 
> Also, you can see some of the balance. Gamer's Body no longer completely transmutes physical damage into lost HP, but includes a temporary visible wound, whereas Gamer's Mind only allows resistance instead of the immunity you often see. Also, the first [REDACTED] skill should be kind of obvious. Don't sweat it if you don't know, though. Most will be revealed in time.
> 
> That said, I am new to this, so if some things aren’t right, or you have advice, let me know.
> 
> edit: corrected END value from 4 to 5
> 
> edit2: cant believe I forgot CHA on the status. Fixed now.
> 
> edit3: fixed the chapter notes.


	2. Enter the Dungeon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tsuna explores Namimori to fill out the map, finds a dungeon, gets a few new skills, and meets the school's idol and her best friend.
> 
> edit: minor grammatical corrections  
> edit 2: minor formatting corrections  
> edit 3: more minor corrections  
> edit 4: MORE minor corrections

After a nice breakfast, and assuring his mom he didn't have a concussion from falling down the stairs, he put on his shoes and walked out the front door. He had no idea where he was going, but while inspecting the journal over breakfast - which really was invisible to other people, as his mom didn't comment on him reading, or the fact that it floated off the table, and beside him when he left the house. She was just excited he was going outside, which was a really low bar. But he had a semblance of an idea of a plan. He would fill in more of the map of Namimori, try to get few skills, and... that was as far as he got. There was a symbol shaped like a little house -a square with a triangle roof and a rectangle chimney- over his house on the Namimori map, and clicking on it opened a small window that said 

**[SAWADA RESIDENCE]**

**INHABITANTS:**

**SAWADA NANA**

**SAWADA TSUNAYOSHI**

**EFFECT: INCREASED EXPERIENCE TO PASSIVE SKILL GROWTH.**

So his dad didn't even count as a resident, huh. He didn't _hate_ his dad, per se, but would it kill him to call, or drop by for a few days? Maybe send a real postcard, because working in Antarctica or wherever to find oil or manage construction projects or whatever - _what the heck does dad even_ do _?_ \- made no sense. Wow, his new INT and WIS points were working, he had never really thought about his dad much before.

MOVING ON. With the book open and floating in front of him, he kept one eye on the map, and one eye on his surroundings, he walked through town. A dojo had symbol of a fist, which increased combat passive skill growth. The corner store sold things, which he expected, but didn't buy them, which he also expected. The hardware store apparently increased his crafting skill growth, unhelpful without a crafting skill. The bookstore could be used to purchase skill books, crafting recipes, and new maps if he hadn't been somewhere yet, all of which were _awesome_ , except he had no money. The pet store sold companions, and he could guess what those were.

His leisurely stroll was interrupted by a cry of, "DAME-TSUNA!", and footsteps pounding behind him. A quick glance showed a trio of his classmates, whose names who couldn't recall. Judging by the almost feral grins and their sprinting, they were not there to ask him how he was. Thinking quickly, he did what any video game character should do when confronted by an enemy too strong for them: ran as fast as he could in the opposite direction. Unfortunately, he hadn't had a chance to level up his physical stats, so he was out of breath in a little more than a minute. Still, he had gained some surprising headway, and could only hear his tormentors.

Unfortunately, they were shouting "He went this way!", combined by the fact he was in an unfamiliar alley with a chain link fence at one end, he couldn't do much. There was one thing, a single option available to him: hide, and hope they don't find him. For the first time in a while, he was thankful for his slight frame, as it let him squeeze between a dumpster and the wall of a building. He couldn't see much, but he could hear the trio of bullies enter the alley. He went further behind the dumpster flattening himself against the brick wall of the building behind him.

"Where is he?"

"He musta hopped the fence."

"Seriously? This blows, lets go to the arcade."

"Wait, he might be-"

  
Oh no. They were coming toward the dumpster. He had to do- what? What could he do? He slid farther down, maybe he could get out the other end and- Tsuna fell backwards. Distantly, he could hear the bullies.

"BEHIND THE DUMPSTER!"

"Guess not."

"Arcade it is, then."

Tsuna let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. Why someone used a dumpster to cover a hole or a door that into a building, he didn't know, and he did not care. He turned to see where he was, and possibly apologize to whoever's home or store he had invaded, before his brain shut off for a second. Last he checked, there weren't any buildings in Namimori that were both larger than the outside, contained a field of flowers, or had no walls and ceiling, exposing him a sky with two suns.

His minor panic was interrupted by a now familiar sensation, a group of new notifications, and his book flipping open to new a page. 

**[DUNGEON] DISCOVERED!**

**SLIME MEADOW**

**LEVEL 1**

**BOSS: ?**

**[A [DUNGEON] IS AN EXTRADIMENSIONAL SPACE, LOCATED ONLY BY [THE GAMER] AND ENTERED BY ANYONE AWARE OF [THE GAME]. EACH [DUNGEON] HAS A LEVEL, BOSS, AND MONSTER TYPE. IN ORDER TO COMPLETE THE DUNGEON AND RECEIVE BONUS REWARDS, DEFEAT THE BOSS, A STRONG MONSTER SUMMONED BY DEFEATING ALL THE OTHER MONSTERS IN THE DUNGEON. DUNGEONS CAN BE LEFT AT ANY TIME, BUT THEIR PROGRESS IS NOT KEPT.]**

**[FOR MAKING A SMART DECISION AND RUNNING AWAY, YOU HAVE EARNED 1 POINT OF [WIS], 1 POINT OF [AGI], AND 1 POINT OF [END].]**

**[FOR REPEATING ACTIONS, YOU HAVE GAINED NEW SKILLS]**

**[SPRINT] (Active) LEVEL 1**

**Speed is key! Increase movement speed by 1/4 AGI m/s while active. Costs 1 SP to maintain for 1 second. More effective at higher AGI.**

**[SNEAK] (Passive) LEVEL 1**

**Humanity survived by hiding from their predators. Conceal your presence, more effective at higher AGI.**

**[NEW QUEST]**

**NOVICE DUNGEONEER**

**You've found a dungeon! You can't beat it now, but maybe try beating a few opponents to get a handle on the combat.**

**REQUIREMENTS:**

**DEFEAT 5 SLIMES [0/5]**

**REWARD:**

**50 EXP**

**1000 YEN**

**1X MINOR HEALTH POTION**

**HIDDEN REWARD: ?**

**CANNOT LEAVE DUNGEON UNTIL COMPLETED.**

His panic come back stronger than before. He couldn't leave? He had to fight and _kill_ things to leave? What would he do, he'd lose so easily, and he would die, and no one would go to his funeral except for Mama, and-

_calm_

_Okay. No time for panicking. If you panic over everything, you'll always be Dame-Tsuna, no matter what. And slimes seem like an easy opponent, they are in most games. And you won't die if you play it smart. If you havet to, run away -you can sprint an extra meter thanks to your new skill-, hide -got a skill for that, might as well use it-, and regenerate your health._ _Also, not only will get enough EXP to level up, you'll get money, a potion, and a mystery thing! You can go home and panic after that. But now, you got to be calm, Tsuna._

Mental pep-talk over, and feeling much calmer, Tsuna took a few deep breaths. He could do this, and he would. Looks like it was time fight slimes. Fortunately, finding one was easy. Upon standing up and wandering a few meters away from the cracked boulder he had apparently entered from, a light-blue basketball sized blob flew at his face. He managed to catch it, noting that it has both warm, and the consistency of gelatin, so it was somewhat solid. Gross. His body acted on what little combat instincts he had from seeing fights at school. He threw the slime onto the ground as hard as he could, and stomped on it until it was a puddle of blue stuff. Still gross.

**[SLIMES DEFEATED 1/5]**

**[GAINED 2 EXP]**

**[DROPPED: BLUE GOOP, 50 YEN COIN]**

**[FOR REPEATING AN ACTION, YOU HAVE GAINED A NEW SKILL]**

**[HAND-TO-HAND MASTERY: FREESTYLE] (Passive) LEVEL 1**

**The first weapons of humanity, unpolished but deadly nonetheless: flailing limbs taught by experience and instinct. Increase non-martial arts hand-to-hand damage by 1%]**

Good, something resembling a weapon. Killing a slime felt less bad when he kept in mind it attacked him first, though he did apologize after it was over. Also, holy crap, did monsters actually drop things? Kneeling down, and reaching into the warm remains of the slime -gross, but rapidly disappearing- Tsuna pulled out a handful of slime that felt more solid than the rest, probably the Blue Goop, and a dirty 50 yen coin. Apparently they did drop things. He hadn't taken any damage, had earned a new skill, 50 yen, and a ball of slime -still gross- and was closer to finishing the quest. This was going great! Now, what to do with the drops...

"Uh... Inventory." At Tsuna's command, the journal, still floating beside him, flipped open to the Inventory. _Please let this wor_ k, he thought, slowly lowering the coin to the page with the grid of boxes. The page rippled, and the first box showed the yen symbol. Poking it yielded this information:

**Yen (50)**

**The currency of Japan, used to purchase items from stores or merchants.**

It worked. Logically, so would the Blue Goop. A page ripple later, the second box contained a small picture of the Goop.

**Blue Goop (1)**

**The semi-solid core of a Slime. Ingredient in alchemy, crafting, and summoning. Surprisingly nutritious. Tastes like glue, and even chewier. And warmer.**

Still gross. Nice to know alchemy and summoning were things, though he didn't plan on eating Goop. Now then, on to fighting slimes so he could leave this place, maybe stop at the bookstore to see what skill books he could buy, and then going home until he felt like he could face the world again. now to find the next slime- a slime fell out of the sky onto Tsuna's head. 

"HIE!"

-X-

Fifteen minutes later, Tsuna stood by the cracked boulder. Apparently, not all the slimes dropped money. He had picked up four more Blue Goops, a Medicinal Herb (E Rank), some Used Bandages, and 150 yen. All kind of gross, but he was desensitized, a little. Currently, he was stacking stones in a small pile by the boulder. Finishing, he knelt and clasped his hand in front of his face. "hey, slimes I killed. I'm sorry that I had to, y'know, kill you. But three of you attacked me first. Granted, I attacked the last two first, but still. I'm sorry, but I wanted to go home, and I had to defeat you to leave. Please, I hope you understand wherever you are." No response. He wasn't expecting one, but still. He had technically invaded the Slime's habitat, and killed five of them. He was doing this a form of... repentance was probably the right word. Sighing, he opened the journal to the [QUEST] tab to receive the rewards.

**[QUEST COMPLETED]**   
**NOVICE DUNGEONEER**   
**You've found a dungeon! You can't beat it now, but maybe try beating a few opponents to get a handle on the combat.**   
**REQUIREMENTS:**   
**DEFEAT 5 SLIMES [5/5]**   
**REWARD:**   
**50 EXP**   
**1000 YEN**   
**1X MINOR HEALTH POTION**   
**HIDDEN REWARD: FORGIVENESS: You, who slew monsters in defense of yourself and your escape to safety, have made a memorial for your victims and begged for their forgiveness. The monsters take pity, and the spirit's created this gift, that you may never forget them.**

**SLIME RING**

**(ACCESSORY)**

**RANK: E**

**TYPE: [REDACTED]**

**Covered in the squishy material that makes up slimes, you have the understanding and forgiveness of the slimes, who fight for survival in this harsh world. Plus 1 point of [END] while worn. Warm and squishy. Hidden effect.**

...Okay, so maybe there was a response. To be fair, he had forgotten about the hidden reward, and hadn't expected it. Also, in what way was a sunny flower meadow a harsh world? The ring that he had not put on but was situated upon his left ring finger gave no answer. The ring, upon closer inspection, was a thin band of rusty metal covered in Blue Goop. Gross. At the 'center' of the ring lay a small purple gem. It was probably purple, the Blue Goop made it hard to tell. His inventory now contained an extra 1,000 yen, and small glass bottle of red liquid that was probably the health potion. He didn't check, he wanted to go home.

**[LEVEL UP]**

**[YOU HAVE REACHED LEVEL 2]**

**[+5 STAT POINTS]**

_'Stat points?'_ "Status." Tsuna was curious to see what exactly that meant, though he had a good feeling.

**NAME: TSUNAYOSHI SAWADA**

**TITLE: NO-GOOD TSUNA**

**CLASS: N/A**

**LEVEL: 2**

**EXP: 10/150**

**HP 70/70**

**[REDACTED] 0/0**

**SP 35/35**

**STR 3**

**END 7**

**AGI 3**

**WIS 7**

**INT 4**

**CHA 2**

**POINTS TO SPEND: 5**

Huh. Looked accurate. And he had five points to spend on any stat. And he knew how to use them. A few taps on the stats he would increase, and:

**NAME: TSUNAYOSHI SAWADA**

**TITLE: NO-GOOD TSUNA**

**CLASS: N/A**

**LEVEL: 2**

**EXP: 10/150**

**HP 70/70**

**[REDACTED] 0/0**

**SP 35/35**

**STR 3**

**END 7**

**AGI 3**

**WIS 10**

**INT 6**

**CHA 2**

**POINTS TO SPEND: 0**

With his newfound wisdom and intelligence, Tsuna was struck with an epiphany. _I should have saved them._ The points would be easy to get now, but what about later? And his stats were easy to develop as they were now, too. Resolve in mind, he decided. Fists clenched, shoulders squared, still staring at the Slime grave, he said to the winds "I'm going to save my points until they're absolutely necessary."

**[FOR MAKING A SMART DECISION, YOU HAVE EARNED ON POINT OF [WIS].]**

The game was mocking him, wasn't it. Whatever, time to leave. Slipping through the crack in the boulder, he found himself, once again, behind a dumpster. This time however, two people saw his hiding space. The last two people who should have seen him come from behind a dumpster, or go behind one. They shouldn't have seen him do anything with a dumpster. The school's idol, and the smartest and rudest girl in school: Sasagawa Kyoko and Kurokawa Hana. Best friends, and Tsuna's unattainable crush and her self-appointed guardian, respectively. One who's smile could light up the world, and one who's glare and sharp words could bring anyone to tears. Judging by the bags they held, they had just gone to a grocery store. Sasagawa was smiling, but looked slightly worried, while Kurokawa just looked disgusted.

"Why in the name of various gods were you behind a dumpster, Dame-Tsuna?" Kurokawa's harsh words made him flinch, but he managed to squeak out, "Hiding from bullies." Sasagawa gasped, smile dropping and being replaced with full worry. "Oh no! are you okay?"

She was worried about him. SHE was worried about HIM. _She_ , an angel made flesh, descended from the heavens to live in the world below, was worried about _him_ , a being lower than a mortal, lower than a monkey, lower than dirt. Somehow, through his blush and tongue-tied-ness, managed to stammer, "Y-yeah. I-I'm just gonna g-go to the b-bookst-store. A-and then home, to s-sleep."

Her smile, brighter than the sun, came back. "Okay! Have a nice day, we'll see you in school tomorrow, Sawada. Come on Hana!" Kurokawa followed without a second glance at Tsuna. He couldn't tell if that was better or worse than if she looked back to glare at him.

**[FOR REAPEATING AN ACTION, YOU HAVE GAINED A NEW SKILL]**

**[LYING] (Active) LEVEL 1**

**Make people believe words that are not the truth. Increase effectiveness based on user's [CHA], and target's [INT] and [WIS], as well the believability of the lie.**

The fact that both Kurokawa and Sasagawa believed him either said good things about his [CHA] -it didn't, he knew his score-, bad things about their [INT] and [WIS] -no, they were some of the best students in his grade-, or how believable the lie was -he did start out hiding from bullies, he fell in the Dungeon by accident. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he opened his map and went towards the bookstore.

-X-

Thankfully, the bookstore accepted filthy money from children that smelled like garbage, and Tsuna made his way home with the only book he could afford that was probably a skillbook, he didn't know how to check. He sat at his desk with the book in front of him, waiting to be opened. On the cover, it depicted someone midleap from rooftop to rooftop, the sky above and the ground below. Below the picture was the title, _Freerunning for Fools_. He hoped this would let him do what he thought it would, once his physical stats were enough. He poked the book, and was met with it flipping open rapidly to the middle, displaying a page that said:

**[YOU HAVE FOUND A SKILLBOOK. USE IT TO LEARN THE SKILL 'FREERUNNING'? Y/N]**

"Yes," Tsuna breathed, and with that, the book started glowing, and broke apart into motes of light that flew into his Journal- capital letters made it important. A notification appeared in his mind.

**[USED A SKILLBOOK TO GAIN A SKILL]**

**[FREE RUNNING] (Passive) LEVEL 1**

**In today's urban environment, there are all sorts of obstacles. With freerunning, you can go above, under, around, or through them! Increases with [AGI].**

Tsuna felt today had been a longer day than it what actually been. Running from bullies, finding a dungeon, getting new skills- he wanted to just goof off the rest of the day. And so he began the goofing off expected from a student of his, knowing that his life was slowly but surely changing for the better. _Tomorrow after school, I'm gonna try to find some new dungeons. And level up some of my skills. And maybe study or exercise to improve my stats. But for now, I'm going to relax._ With that though recorded to memory, the rest of his lazy sunday, from morning until noon until night, was spent relaxing. And he did not regret a thing from that day. Except touching the slimes. They would always be gross.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh crud. Two days in a row? Best author, right here. But seriously, school's out for a few weeks due to our good friend COVID-19, so I should update more regularly than I normally would. Also, writing even a single chapter made me feel really good? Like, accomplished? Is that a normal thing? Am I going crazy?
> 
> Also, Hana and Kyoko are not aware or suspicious yet. They think its just No-Good Tsuna being no good, not Tsuna fighting slimes.  
> And Iemitsu isn't really a character most people like, but as the tags say, REDEMPTION ARCS ALL OVER THE PLACE! His will take a while though. And it will be a bit slower. But still. I'M REDEEMING EVERYONE I CAN. And given KHR's rather loose sets of morals and low standards for being 'good', that's quite a few people.  
> Maps: Say Tsuna's going to Generic Japanese Town #7, for some reason. He doesn't have a map, but he could buy one. It wouldn't show what each building does, but it would let him know the area.  
> Notifications: Usually don't happen during battle other action, unless important. I'm trying to get across how weird they are, cold and silent, yet still with an artificial voice and complete sentences. Doesn't make much sense, does it?  
> Also, I don't know if (dried) glue is actually chewy.


	3. How to run away from your problems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tsuna levels up some skills and stats, learns about equipment, meets a demon and an extreme boxer, begins a friendship, goes to school, and begins a Quest.

Warm and soft. The best words to describe how Tsuna felt. Sunlight streaming through his window, hitting everything except his face, allowing for maximum comfort and minimum wakefulness. Birds chirping, close enough to be heard, yet far enough to be soothing rather than annoying. The scent of breakfast of some sort, wafting up from the kitchen. Were it not for his blankets, he would be up and out of bed in an instant, just to smell whatever his mother was cooking.

" _Tsu-kun_ …"

Ah, speak of the angels and they shall appear. She called softly from outside his room, no doubt to bring breakfast up to him. Truly, his mother was the greatest.

A knock, followed by a flat, "Tsu-kun." Maybe she was just telling him to that breakfast was made. Still, his mother was so kind and thoughtful...

Pounding, at his door, accompanied by a shout of, "TSU-KUN, GET UP OR YOU'LL BE LATE TO SCHOOL!"

Amber eyes shot open, staring at his clock. His mom was right, he had to leave _now_. And he didn't have time for breakfast, which was the greatest tragedy to befall him in the last week. He threw off the covers and stood up, only to stop as he caught sight of a floating orange book. What was-? The memories of the previous day hit him full force. The Game. The dungeon. The Slimes, which still were and always would be gross. And the weird ring, that was still covered in Goop after he washed it. Mama didn't notice, so maybe no one else would. Or it was Mama being Mama, and she truly didn't notice, regardless of any possible influence from a magical book.   
  
He didn't have time for this. He needed to get dressed _n o w_. Moving at speeds that belied his low AGI score, he threw on the Namimori Middle uniform, grabbed his backpack, and practically leapt down the stairs, somehow not tripping over his own feet. He grabbed some toast of the table, took his lunch from his mom with a quick, "Gotta go!", slightly muffled by the toast in his mouth in response, tugged on his shoes, and began the standard Late-To-School-Anime-Protagonist-Toast-In-Mouth-Run. Thankfully, it was the second week of school, so he didn't fill _all_ the clichés. Only most.

He was almost halfway to school, toast eaten and SP almost exhausted, when all of a sudden, from behind, beside, and in front of him, came the shout of, "EEEEXTRREEEEMMME!" The shout came from a boy a little older than him, with a shock of white hair, tanned skin, and gray eyes. He continued shouting, at volumes that made Tsuna feel like his ears might start bleeding. "That was some EXTREME running! You should EXTREMELY join the Boxing Club! It'll be EXTREME!" At this point, Gamer's Mind had taken hold, and Tsuna tried to back away, raising his hands in the universal symbol for 'whatever that is, I want nothing to do with it'. Unfortunately, Extreme-Guy saw him and his eyes lit up. "AH, SO I WAS RIGHT! You and I are cut from the same EXTREME cloth! Men who do not need words, but let their EXTREME fists talk for them!" He held up his fists, and threw a punch at Tsuna's face. In response, Tsuna shrieked and ducked, only to be met with more punches. _This guy is the weirdest bully ever!_ Eventually, Tsuna saw an opening, and if what Extreme-Guy said was true, it was the only way to stop.

"HAH!" Tsuna's punch connected, hitting the shouting boxer in the upper arm. Extreme-Guy, for his part, blinked and stopped punching. "...That punch had some EXTREME emotions in it, but it had EXTREMELY bad form. Here, let me show you." With that, he grabbed Tuna's hand. "Now, you want to keep your thumb on the outside of your fist, otherwise you'll dislocate it. Now, try to aim for the gut or the throat if you can angle it- actually, you're kind of short, probably best to just aim for the stomach. Anyway, aim for something about, eh, fifteen centimeters behind your target. Keep your wrist straight, and try to hit with your index and middle finger's knuckles. Alright, that's pretty good, try to hit me." Tsuna blinked, the last fifteen or twenty seconds after the punch barely registering. Thankfully, he had Gamer's Mind, so he complied with the boxer's instructions. In one relatively fluid motion, fist met stomach, and the air left Extreme-Guy's lungs, though covered almost instantly. "Now that was an EXTREME improvement! I mean, your posture, your overall strength, and your footwork need improvement, but just stop by the Boxing Club after school, we'll work on it."

"Stop by wh-?" Tsuna's question remained unfinished, as the white haired boxer ran off with another "EEEEXTRREEEEMMME!"

**[BY UNDERGOING REPEATED EXPOSURE TO A HARMFUL STIMULUS,YOU HAVE GAINED A NEW SKILL!]**

**[SOUND RESISTANCE] (Passive) LEVEL 1**

**Noises are caused by vibrations in the air, and sufficient pitches and volumes can incapacitate or harm humans! 1% resistance to sonic attacks.**

**[SKILLS HAVE LEVELED UP!]**

**[SPRINT +2 LEVELS]**

**[HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT MASTERY: FREESTYLE +1 LEVEL]**

**[SOUND RESISTANCE +2 LEVELS]**

**[FOR UNDERGOING A SPRINT AND A MINOR SPAR, YOU HAVE GAINED 1 POINT OF [AGI], AND 1 POINT OF [STR].]**

The fact that it took so little to improve his stats depressed him, and the fact that fighting Slimes hadn't improved his skills or his strength stats made a him a little annoyed. Combined with the headache from the noisy boxer, the minor but swiftly disappearing ache in his hand, and his sheer confusion, Tsuna was tempted to just turn around and go home. But he didn't. Maybe it was his newfound wisdom and intelligence, or the promise from yesterday, or just wanting to go to school to see if he could improve his intelligence. Whatever it was, something made Tsuna stand his ground, and continue walking to school. Along the way, he brainstormed everything he knew about video games. ' _So it looks like The Game is an RPG. If that's the case, I should try to find some different equipment. I don't think a Middle School uniform will be much protection from bullies_ or _slimes. Actually, how_ do _I check my equipment's effects anyway_?' With that, he began staring at his shirt sleeve, hoping it would give him some answers. He was surprised when it did.

**[BY REPEATING AN ACTION, YOU HAVE GAINED A NEW SKILL!]**

**[OBSERVE] (Active) LEVEL 1**

**A human's brain is one of their greatest tools! Use Observe to understand the world around you. Increases with INT.**

**[HELP SECTION UPDATED]**

**[EQUIPMENT CAN BE FOUND ALL OVER THE WORLD, BOUGHT FROM STORES, MADE WITH SKILLS, OR DROPPED FROM MONSTERS. EQIUPMENT IN THE CLOTHES CLASS OFFERS LITTLE TO NO DEFENSE, AND ALMOST ALWAYS A HAS MISCELLANEOUS BUFF. LIGHT ARMOR OFFERS LOW TO MEDIUM DEFENSE, AND DOES NOT RESTRICT MOVEMENT, BUT DOES NOT ALWAYS OFFER A BUFF. HEAVY ARMOR HAS MEDIUM TO HIGH DEFENSE, BUT RESTRICTS MOVEMENT, AND DOES NOT ALWAYS OFFER A BUFF. SOME BUFFS ARE GAINED FROM INDIVIDUAL ITEMS, WHILE SOME ARE GAINED FROM WEARING A SET OF ITEMS. YOU CAN SET A SET OF EQUIPMENT BY OPENING YOUR INVENTORY, SAYING OR THINKING 'CREATE SET', SELECTING THE ITEMS, AND NAMING THE SET. YOU CAN EQUIP SAID SET BY SAYING OR THINKING THE SET'S NAME WITH INTENT.]**

**NAMIMORI MIDDLE SCHOOL UNIFORM SHIRT**

**(CLOTHES)**

**RANK: E**

**TYPE: NONE**

**A standard uniform shirt, comfortable and semi-professional. When full uniform is worn, -25% chance of being targeted by Hibari Kyoya.**

Well. A handy skill, some handy information, and a somewhat handy equipment bonus. Not too shabby. But he had to go now, or he would be late. He did NOT want to be targeted by Hibari. He had heard stories in elementary school, and seen him in action over the last week. Demon Prefect was right, the boy was _terrifying._ A quick glance at his phone's clock told him as long as he didn't stop walking, he could get to school on time.  
  
"Hey Sawada!"

Tsuna turned, confused at who would call his name so early in the morning- and then his heart momentarily stopped. Sasagawa Kyoko. Running towards him. Smiling and waving. Running towards HIM. SMILING. AND. WAVING. It was official. The Game was somehow to thank for this, and he would dedicate his life to worshipping the enigmatic phenomenon. Outside Tsuna's plans to get his hands on a goat to sacrifice, Sasagawa skidded to halt in front of him, pausing to catch her breath.

"Morning Sawada! Sorry to bother you, but have you seen my brother?"

At the sound of her voice, directed at him (DIRECTED! AT! HIM!), Tsuna snapped back to reality. "Uh, good morning Sasagawa-san! I didn't actually know you, uh, had a brother." Apparently Gamer's Mind couldn't overpower all his emotions, prime evidence being stumbling over his words.

Kyoko, still smiling, hummed a little. "Yeah. My older brother, Ryohei. He's got tan skin, white hair, gray eyes, and he would probably have been running and yelling about boxing, or something 'extreme'."

_Wait. So that Extreme-Guy I fought was her BROTHER?!_

"Oh, you fought him?"

"HIE!" He hadn't meant to say that out loud. "Sasagawa-san, I-I'm sorry, I didn't know he was your brother, it's just, he was trying to punch me, so I punched him, then he got a bit upset because my punch was bad, then he made me punch him better, and now I'm apparently part of the boxing club!"

"Its fine."

"Wait what."

  
  
"Ryohei challenges people and invites them to the boxing club all the time. I'm just glad you're okay."

_She doesn't even think that I could touch him. Either she looks up to her brother, or doesn't expect much from me. Probably both._

"Wanna walk to school together, Sawada?" Sasagawa asked, out of the blue.

"Wh-what?"

  
Sasagawa smiled, grabbed his forearm, and tugged. "Walking to school is better with someone you know. Besides, I want to get to know you better?"

"Do you really mean that, Sasagawa-san?"

"I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it! It's always good to get yo know a classmate, and a new member of the Boxing Club too!"

_She actually thinks I'm going to join the Boxing Club... I better let her down gently..._

"Sasagawa-san, I-"

"Call me Kyoko."

"Eh- wait, but- you- I-" Gamer's Mind activated, and Tsuna took a deep breath, emotions settling down. "Alright, Kyoko-chan. But you have to call me Tsuna."

**[FOR KEEPING RELATIVELY CALM AND BEING SOCIAL, YOU HAVE GAINED 1 POINT OF [CHA].]**

The Game was definitely mocking his social awkwardness. Still, Sasa- Kyoko-chan's smile and, "Deal, Tsuna-kun!" quickly erased any annoyance he felt at The Game. Kyoko took that moment, to glance at her watch. Still smiling, she looked up. "Crap. We have to run, or we'll be late." With that, she took off at a sprint, Tsuna following a moment later.

They ended up making it right on time, but they didn't get to talk.

-X-

Tsuna stretched his arms above his head as he walked through the hall of Namimori Middle School, small noises of contentment as his joints clicked and popped. _Man, that day took forever. Still, I got to walk with Kyoko-chan this morning._ Currently, he was wandering the halls, trying to think of where the Boxing Club might be meeting. _If I let them know I don't want to join, it might as well be face to face._

"DAME-TSUNA!" The mentioned student turned to face the three who had chased him the day before. "You got away from us yesterday, so we're going to have to beat you up twice as bad to make up for lost time!" Tsuna, after Gamer's Mind stopped his legs from shaking, turned to a tried and true strategy: running away. The added [AGI] and sprint levels from that morning proved to helpful, sprinting through the halls. After a while, though, he reached a dead-end, this being a first-floor classroom, thankfully unoccupied.

"Nowhere to run, Dame-Tsuna!" Tsuna turned, watching the advancing delinquents. What could he do, what could he do? _Think, think, THINK_! Maybe it was having no conventional options, or the added [WIS] and [INT] points. Whatever it was, Tsuna spun one hundred and eighty degrees, ran, and leapt... right through the open window. Rolling as he hit the ground, he began running again. The shouts behind him meant that his pursuers had shaken off their shock, and were running after him. A quick glance confirmed it. He ran towards front of the school, jumped onto a bench and leapt off, grabbing a branch of the tree it was under, and scurried upward. He had bought himself a few moments to breathe.

His reprieve ended when his bullies demonstrated their superior physical abilities, and began climbing up the tree. Tsuna, in a flash of inspiration, chose to demonstrate both the power of gravity, and the tactical superiority of the high ground. His shoes met the highest bullies face, and he hit the ground rolling. He sprang to his feet, and ran towards what appeared to be some sort of large storage shed. At that moment, the most unfortunate thing happened, condemning Tsuna to pain and suffering. His shoelace came untied, and he tripped.

"Got ya!" One of the delinquents grabbed the back of Tsuna's shirt, and hoisted him off the ground. Tsuna acted on instinct, his elbow flying back. Normally, any attempts for Tsuna to fight back while being lifted almost twenty centimeters off the ground would be laughable at best, inducing second hand embarrassment at worst. However, The Game's Skill's improved quickly, and the bully let go and stumbled back, clutching his jaw and cursing. Tsuna dropped to the ground and spun, raising his fists a cheap imitation of the one Ryohei had made that morning. He was shivering, and his knees knocked together. But. He wasn't about to let some bullies beat him up without a fight! 

_(in Tsuna's soul, there was a brief rise in heat, awakened by the first trace of Dying Will in years.)_

The first bullies companions caught up. "Dude, did Dame-Tsuna seriously hurt you?" Bully #1 snarled, and spit on the ground. "Shut up. Sometimes, even a useless loser gets a lucky hit in." He turned to Tsuna. " 'Course, now we have to pay him back a hundred times over!" The bully stalked forward, winding up a fist. "Say your prayers, Dame-Tsuna!"

"Herbivores."

_(the heat dissipated, but left a scorch on Tsuna's soul)_

Tsuna stopped shaking. The bullies mid-step. In sync, the four students turned to look at the unlikely savior of one Sawada Tsunayoshi. Gakuran top worn over his shoulders, red armband on the left sleeve, metal tonfa in each hand. Hibari Kyoya, head of the Disciplinary Comittee, also known as the Demon Prefect among some of the students. He stood with the suns rays hitting his back, covering his front in darkness. Only the glint of steel in each hand and his eyes visible.

"Only club members are allowed on campus after the end of the day. If you are not part of a club, you will be bitten to death."

One of the bullies, either very stupid or very brave, shook off his fear and stepped forward with a cocky grin. "Big talk for a loser in a cape." He found it hard say much after that, as the metal tonfa that slammed into his face removed several teeth, as well as knocking him unconscious. Apparently Hibari didn't want people calling his jacket a cape. The other two bullies were frozen with fear, and met a fate identical to their comrade. With that, Hibari turned towards Tsuna, arm pulling back for a strike.

Gamer's Mind once again activated. As well as something else. As Hibari's arm, and the tonfa itself shot forward, the impossible happened. To an observer, it would appear as though nothing had changed Hibari's arm and tonfa moving at speeds only barely visible to the naked eye. To Tsuna, time slowed and the world became bathed in amber. He was calm... calmer than Gamer's Mind would have left him. Leaning, body moving similarly to his perception of time, Tsuna dodged, and Hibari missed. If any students were watching, they would understand. Dame-Tsuna, the weakest, slowest, dumbest student in Namimori, dodged an attack from Hibari Kyoya, the unstoppable carnivore who ruled his territory with an iron fist, and two steel tonfa.

"Hibari. There is no need to attack. I am looking for the Boxing Club, they asked me to visit today after school." Tsuna was still weirdly calm. It felt kind of weird, but not bad. Just weird. And he didn't tell his mouth to say that. He was running mostly on a gut feeling, or instinct, or...

The weird calm went away, and Dame-Tsuna came back. "S-so, if you could maybe tell me where the boxing club is, maybe? Please don't bite me to death."

Hibari glared, which was his default expression. He opened his mouth, but a door on the building behind Tsuna slid open, and his mouth closed. Ryohei, wearing only a pair of shorts and some hand wraps, stepped out. His eyes brightened when he saw Tsuna. "Ah, there you are! Are you EXTREMELY ready for some boxing?" Tsuna turned and opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut off. "HIBARI! JOIN THE BOXING CLUB!" Ryohei had seen the older student going back to... somewhere... and his mind had jumped tracks from 'welcome the small kid into the boxing club, TO THE EXTREME!' to 'EXTREMELY GET HIBARI TO JOIN THE BOXING CLUB! TO THE EXREME!' Off he dashed, somehow getting in front of Hibari, and putting his hands up in a boxing stance. Hibari just glared and kept walking. "Stay out of my way, herbivore. Or I'll bite you to death." Ryohei dashed in front of Hibari, again, but threw a punch this time. It was blocked by a tonfa, its mate swinging towards Ryohei. Who took it without flinching. The pair continued fighting, but Tsuna was distracted by an influx of notifications.

**[FOR EVADING YOUR ENEMIES AND ATTEMPTING TO FIGHT BACK, YOU HAVE GAINED 1 POINT OF [END], 1 POINT OF [STR], 1 POINT OF [AGI], AND 1 POINT OF [WIS].]**

**[SKILLS HAVE LEVELED UP!]**

**[SPRINT +2 LEVELS]**

**[HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT MASTERY: FREESTYLE +1 LEVEL]**

**[FREE RUNNING +3 LEVELS]**

**[PHYSICAL ENDURANCE +1 LEVEL]**

**[A SKILL'S DATA HAS BEEN UPDATED!]**

**[[REDACTED] INTUITION] (Special) LEVEL 1**

**An ability passed down through the your bloodline for the past 400 years. Increase chance to sense danger, illusions, [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] , as well as resist mental effects and illusions. Activated, boosts [WIS] by 500%. Current activation chance: 1%.**

  
Tsuna's was brought back to reality, away from thinking about the new information about one of the skills he had had from the beginning, by Ryohei slamming into the wall next him. In the distance, Hibari continued his walk to wherever it is he was going. "...Ow... That guy has an EXTREMELY good punch..." Ryohei blinked at Tsuna's form, squinting in order to make both Tsuna's turn back into one. "OH, YOU'RE THAT EXTREME KID FROM THIS MORNING! HERE TO JOIN?! ALRIGHT, LET'S GET INSIDE!" Tsuna promptly had his arm nearly wrenched out of his socket as he was pulled inside, door slamming shut behind him.

"ALRIGHT, LISTEN UP EVERYONE!" Almost a dozen boys -all older than Tsuna, some working out, some in rings, some sitting on benches- looked towards the odd duo. "THIS IS... what's your name?"  
  
"Sawada Tsunayoshi…"

"THIS IS SAWADA TSUNAYOSHI! HE'S EXTREMELY GOING TO BE JOINING US FROM TODAY FORWARD!"

No one moved for a few seconds, before a boy in the back groaned. "You serious, captain? Dame-Tsuna's going to a part of the Boxing Club? He probably can't even make a fist right."

"THAT IS EXTREMELY FALSE! He showed good form this morning, and his punches are EXTREMELY passionate!"

Voices rose on all sides, some arguing for Tsuna being allowed to join, most against. Tsuna ignored them, he had a new notification that needed his attention.

**[NEW QUEST]**

**EXTREME SKILLS!**

**You have the opportunity to join the Boxing Club! Will you partake in an extreme, yet refined manner of combat? Or will you fumble blindly, hoping to get by the skin of your teeth?**

**REQUIREMENTS: JOIN THE BOXING CLUB!**

**REWARD:**

**500 YEN**

**200 EXP**

**1 PAIR OF [NOVICE BOXING GLOVES]**

**INCREASE REPUTATION WITH BOXING CLUB (MEDIUM)**

**REPLACE [HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT MASTERY: FREESTYLE] WITH [BOXING]**

**PENALTY FOR FAILURE:**

**DECREASE REPUTATION WITH BOXING CLUB (MINOR)**

**[A SKILL CAN BE LEARNED, AT THE COST OF ANOTHER!]**

**[BOXING] (Passive) LEVEL 1**

**More refined than freestyle, more simple than other martial arts. Increase hand-to-hand combat damage by 3%.**

**[WARNING! LEARNING THIS SKILL WILL PREVENT LEARNING ANY OTHER HAND-TO-HAND SKILLS UNLESS [REDACTED]!**   
  
  


A quick glance at his skills told Tsuna his other hand-to-hand combat skill increased damage by 3% as well. But that was level 3. If they followed the same pattern, at level 3, boxing would do an extra 9%. It made the most sense from a purely intellectual standpoint. But something, something he couldn't identify, made him hesitate. The freestyle skill might not have been the best, but if the number of movies and video games he had watched and played had taught him anything, it was that everything had a weakness. Water beat fire, spear beat sword, stuff like that. But the freestyle skill seemed like it wouldn't be a part of any weakness chart. It wouldn't be outstanding, and it wouldn't be bad. Just average. Meanwhile, boxing probably had some martial art that it was a bad match against. In addition, boxing didn't really seem to be much more than punches, while the freestyle skill was all his limbs. It seemed, while boxing was more stronger but more specific, freestyle fighting could do just fine in most, if not all situations, even if it had less effect.

...Wow. The extra points in [INT] and [WIS] were really pulling their weight. Or they had started out so low, any improvement was a major improvement.

"Um, excuse me?" The Boxing Club was still yelling, and two boys had started shoving each other. "Excuse me?" Asking louder had little effect, so he tried his last option. "HEY! SHUT UP FOR A MINUTE!" It worked. The boxing club all stopped shouting and stared at Tsuna. He felt his face heating up, and wondered if he could get a skill to reverse time. Nevertheless, he kept talking. "Look, I'm not here join the Boxing Club, okay? I just thought it would be better to come by face to face, rather than me refusing by not showing up." He turned slightly, to look at Ryohei specifically. "I'm sorry, Sasagawa-san. But I don't think I'm cut out for boxing. I hope I didn't disappoint you too much." Ryohei stood for a few seconds, looking like someone had kicked his puppy. But he walked forward, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Sawada... STANDING UP FOR YOURSELF AND STICKING TRUE TO YOUR CONVICTIONS IS EXTREMELY WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR IN THE BOXING CLUB! YOU'LL FIT RIGHT IN!"

Tsuna gawked. _He didn't even hear me!_ "Sasagawa-san, didn't you hear me? I said-"

"Makes sense Dame-Tsuna's already giving up."

Tsuna was the only one making noise before that sentence, but no one was for a good five seconds afterwards.   
  
  
  
"...huh?"

One of the Boxing Club members shrugged. "You're pretty much useless. You're stupid, weak, slow, you trip over anything and everything, you get beat up, you're a coward, you have no friends... want me to continue?" A condescending smirk made it's way to his face. "You have so much to choose from. But, I digress. The specific point I'm trying to make is, you don't try. You might be halfway decent at something, but you're too pathetic to try. The Boxing Club really doesn't need or _want_ someone like you."

Tsuna felt numb. Sights and sounds faded to static. That guy was right, wasn't he. He was all those things mentioned, and more. He had begun thinking that The Game made him special, made him better, made him something other than Dame-Tsuna. But no. He would be useless, no-good, loser, Dame-Tsuna for the rest of his life it seemed. He was about to turn, go home, and stay in his room, when a voice shouted from... behind him?

  
  
"You take that back!"

  
It was Kyoko, standing in the open doorway. She was carrying a backpack that wasn't hers, judging by how she had another one over her shoulder. But the thing struck Tsuna the most was her face. She was angry. Sasagawa Kyoko didn't get angry. At least, Tsuna hadn't seen it. But there she was, fists clenched at her sides and shaking, jaw clenched, and shoulders tensed.

The Boxing Club member blinked. "Eh? Kyoko-chan? What do you mean? All I said was the truth. Sawada _is_ pretty useless."

"...Yeah, maybe he's not smart. Or strong, or fast, or brave, or coordinated, or anything like that..." Wow. Kyoko was good at insulting people on accident.

"...But he's still my friend." Wait what. Judging by the hushed chatter and surpirsed looks the Boxing Club shared amongst itself, they felt the same way. Kyoko took a few steps forward, until she was in front of the badmouthing Boxing Club member. "And I don't like people INSULTING MY _FRIENDS_!" And with that line, straight out of a shonen manga, Kyoko punched the guy in his stomach, knocking both the breath out of him, and him onto his back. "So don't let me hear you talking about him like that again, okay?!" 

  
The Boxing Club was silent. Ryohei was silent, but nodding in approval. Kyoko walked over to him, and handed him the backpack, still in the hand she didn't punch with. "Your teacher wanted me to bring you your backpack. You forgot it." Ryohei was apparently unaffected by the same shock Tsuna and the rest of the Boxing Club were. "Thanks, Kyoko. That was an EXTREMELY good punch, by the way. Where did you learn that?" Kyoko blushed slightly, and looked at a spot over Ryohei's shoulder. "Remember a couple years ago, how I wanted to learn boxing, and you said no? Well, I started watching you, and kinda.. taught myself." Ryohei hmm'ed. "Well, your form was good, but it could be a lot better. Plus, your footwork, and-"

Tsuna took that moment to interrupt. "Kyoko-chan. Did you.. really mean what you said?" Kyoko looked embarrassed. "About the, um not smart thing? I'm sorry that wasn't very nice..."

"Not that. Do you.. are we.. am I really your friend?"

Kyoko blinked. "Oh. That. Yeah, we're friends."

"Since when, though? We barely talked this morning, and we've never really talked before that."

Kyoko smiled, brighter than the sun. "Isn't it obvious? We've been friends since I decided we were! That would be around lunch time, just so you know."

Tsuna blinked. And blinked again. This was- that didn't- Kyoko couldn't just- He gave up trying to formulate an argument. He probably couldn't come up with one, even if he wanted to. And any argument he did come, Kyoko would probably ignore it, if she was anything like her brother. "Okay. Now, do you think you could help me explain to your brother that I don't want to join the boxing club?"  
  
Kyoko smile dimmed a little. "You don't want to join? That's too bad... Oh well. RYOHEI! Tsuna-kun wants to join the club-" WHAT IN THE NAME OF GOD WAS SHE DOING- "but he can't really make it that often. Would it be okay if he just stopped by when he can?" Ryohei nodded rapidly. "That's EXTREMELY fine with me, little brother!"

"... But I'm your sister?"

"I was talking to Sawada! Tell him he can call me big brother!"

"He's right here, you can tell him yourself!"

"Call me big brother, Sawada!"

"Uh... Okay, big brother?"

Ryohei nodded in satisfaction, before turning to the still silent Boxing Club. "Someone scrape Hidaka off the floor! Tsuna might not be here for each meet, but he's still a member of the Boxing Club, and I will not tolerate anyone bullying him! That said, it's time for some EXTREME sparring!" As the Boxing Club began to pair off, and the bully, apparently named Hidaka, slowly shuffled over to a bench, clutching his stomach. Kyoko turned to Tsuna. "So, I've got to go to the Cooking Club. We're making cakes today. Will you be fine going home by yourself?" Tsuna nodded. "Good! Just remember, it's okay to be not very good at.. well, everything, to be honest. We're only in middle school, after all. We've got plenty of time to grow!" Kyoko grinned. "See you tomorrow, Tsuna-kun!" Off she ran, visions of cake filling her head. Tsuna took the chance to leave and start heading home. Based on the lack of leveling up, he had failed the quest. He wasn't actually part of the Boxing Club, apparently. That wasn't what he was thinking about, though. He was thinking about what was said in the Boxing Club.

_...Kyoko's right,_ Tsuna decided. _It's only the first day of the second week of middle school. I've got months -years, really- to get better at things. Hidaka was right too, though. I didn't try things, just stayed in my bubble of no-good. Well , not anymore! I'm going to get better at everything! And I've got The Game, so I can do it quickly. I won't be Dame-Tsuna anymore! No matter how hard it is._

**[FOR MAKING A PROMISE WITH CONVICTION, YOU HAVE GAIN 1 POINT OF [CHA].]**

**[NEW QUEST!]**

**DAME NO MORE**

**You have made a promise to no longer be useless. Will you achieve it, and rise to glory? Or fail, and be sentenced to a pitiable existence?**

**REQUIREMENTS:**

**RAISE ALL STATS TO 10**

**DEFEAT A BOSS BY YOURSELF**

**REWARD:**

**LOSE TITLE: NO-GOOD TSUNA**

**500 EXP**

**2000 YEN**

**RANDOM SKILL BOOK**

**INCREASE REPUTATION WITH CLASSMATES, TEACHERS, PARENTS, SASAGAWA KYOKO, AND [REDACTED] (MINOR)**

**HIDDEN REWARS: ?**

**PENALTY FOR FAILURE/REFUSAL:**

**DECREASE REPUTATION WITH CLASSMATES, TEACHERS, PARENTS, SASAGAWA KYOKO, AND [REDACTED] (MEDIUM)**

**LOSE ACCESS TO [THE GAME]**

**STATS REVERTED TO PRE-[GAME] VALUES**

**SKILLS REMOVED**

**TIME LIMIT: 1 WEEK**

**ACCEPT? Y/N**

Tsuna stopped, the notification replaying over and over. Lose access to The Game. He couldn't lose access, he had had it for a day, and now he might be not be able to - they couldn't- this didn't- not fair-

_calm_

Tsuna let out a breath he hadn't been aware he had been holding. Thank God for Gamer's Mind. He accepted the Quest. He could do this. At least one person believed in him, and that was enough for him. He REFUSED to fail this Quest. He would BEAT it, and no longer be No-Good. But he couldn't just rush in and ad-lib his way through the quest. Time to put his [INT] and [WIS] to real work.

"Status." The journal flipped open.

**NAME: TSUNAYOSHI SAWADA**

**TITLE: NO-GOOD TSUNA**

**CLASS: N/A**

**LEVEL: 2**

**EXP: 10/150**

**HP 80/80**

**[REDACTED] 0/0**

**SP 40/40**

**STR 5**

**END 8**

**AGI 5**

**WIS 12**

**INT 6**

**CHA 4**

**POINTS TO SPEND: 0**

_Okay. [WIS] is wisdom, and it improves from making smart decisions. Surprised it's gone up as much as it has, given my reputation, but I don't have to worry about it. [END] is endurance, probably goes up from physical strain. One of my [END] points is due to the Slime Ring, so I should probably get it up to eleven to be safe. [STR] is strength, points seemed to be gained from sparring and working out. [AGI] is agility, improved by running, or doing other things that required agility. [INT] is intelligence. It most likely improved from, you know, being smart. I can probably raise it by studying. [CHA], or charisma, seems like it will be the toughest to raise. I can increase it by either make a decision with strong resolution, which is weird, or being socially competent, which made sense but will be difficult for me. I... don't interact much socially. I can probably raise [STR], [END], and [AGI] at once, if I went for a run with some weights_. He nodded, and the journal closed.

Tsuna had twelve percent of a plan. Study as much as possible in the afternoons. Look for weights and go for runs before school and in the evenings. Try to be more social at school. Go to the dungeon, and fight Slimes until the Boss showed up, Observe the Boss, run away as needed. Actually, observe everything he could. Use money from fighting Slimes to buy skill books with skills useful for combat. Fight Slimes to raise combat skills. Find a weapon, raise stats to ten, fight boss, pass the Quest, profit. 

[FOR MAKING A PLAN BETTER THAN ANY PLAN YOU HAVE EVER MADE BEFORE, YOU HAVE GAINED 1 POINT OF [INT].]

...The Game was definitely mocking him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey. It's, uh, been a while. Sorry.
> 
> WRITING STUFF
> 
> Tsuna's stats were low to begin with, so he can raise them pretty easily (for now), and each one is a rather noticeable improvement.  
> I feel that Kyoko, or this version at least, does not like people talking bad about her friends. Also, if Ryohei refused to teach her self defense/boxing, she would watch him and teach herself the basics, at least.  
> I can't really remember what Tsuna calls his mom, but I think Mama is what a few other writers do. So I'm going to go with that. It also seems like a Tsuna thing to do. Same with Demon Prefect. I'm sure I read it somewhere, but I don't know where.  
> Did I add enough EXTREME's for Ryohei? Probably not.  
> Did Hibari say herbivore and some variation of 'bite you to death' enough? Probably.  
> There will be plenty of nameless, faceless oc's who do nothing directly important.  
> Italicized sentences with no punctuation or single quotation marks -'like this'- are thoughts. Italicized words in other wise normal sentences  
> are emphasized.  
> I've started taking a day after I write a chapter in order to look for any mistakes, after getting some sleep so my brain is fully alert. There might be a few typos here and there, but hopefully less.  
> Edit: Forgot a word.


	4. Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tsuna Observes everything (or tries), experiences the aftermath of a friendship, prepares for his Quest, and is conscripted.

**RAIN JACKET**

**(CLOTHES, TORSO)**

**RANK: E**

**TYPE: NONE**

**A yellow, rubbery jacket designed to ward off rain, or other liquids. Effect: +1 water resistance.**

**SWIM TRUNKS**

**(CLOTHES, LEGS)**

**RANK: E**

**TYPE: NONE**

**Simple and comfortable, good for swimming at a casual level. Effect: +1 water resistance.**

**FLIPPERS**

**(CLOTHES, FEET)**

**RANK: E**

**TYPE: NONE**

**Agile in water, awkward on land. Effect: -1 [AGI] on land, +1 [AGI] in water**

**RAIN BOOTS**

**(CLOTHES, FEET)**

**RANK: E**

**TYPE: NONE  
  
Boots to keep your feet dry during the rain. Effect: +1 water resistance.  
**

**SNORKEL**

**(CLOTHES, ACCESORY)**

**RANK: E**

**TYPE: NONE**

**A cheap snorkel for a child, enhances underwater exploration. Effect: +5 seconds to oxygen meter while underwater.**

**SWIM GOGGLES**

**(CLOTHES, HEAD)**

**RANK: E**

**TYPE: NONE**

**Plastic googles to see underwater. Effect: Improved underwater vision.**

"Hmmm..."

Tsuna was currently sitting on the floor of his room, Observing all his clothes. Most of his clothes had no effect, but his beach stuff tended to be towards water resistance, and his winter clothes had ice resistance. Some sunglasses he found had light resistance, and a tanktop he didn't recall buying had fire resistance, for whatever reason. Observing everything he could was one step in his plan. Another step was make as many Sets of equipment as he could. He had School Set, composed of the Namimori Middle School uniform. Ice Set, composed of his winter jacket, a scarf, some gloves, long underwear, and a winter hat. His winter jacket and the long underwear lowered his fire Resistance, so he made Cold Set, which was sweatpants, a hoodie, and gloves. His Combat Set was the t-shirt and jeans he wore into the Dungeon the first time. Fire Set was a tank top, shorts, flip flops, and a baseball hat that somehow managed to fit over his hair. Light Set was just Combat Set, but the sunglasses. It was good to know that the same item could fit in multiple sets. It let him make his Water Set (Rain jacket, rain boots, swim trunks) and his Swim Set (Rain jacket, swim trunks, flippers, googles, snorkel). The snorkel apparently counted as an accessory, so he could use them and the goggles at the same time. Also, he apparently had an oxygen meter. It would be nice if he could see it, but he probably had to be underwater.

Speaking of equipping, he found out what each square around his 'avatar' in the Status page was for. There were two columns of gray squares to the right of his 'avatar', the left one with ten, the right one with three. The top square of the first column was for stuff worn on his head, followed by torso, legs, arm, feet, three accessory slots, two weapon slots. The second column of squares could only fit certain clothes with no effects, specifically socks, underwear, and shirts. Pants and shoes went into the first column. The stuff from his Sets went over the stuff in the second coulmn, if necessary. He took off the t-shirt, socks, and underwear for the swim set, because swimming in that felt weird. The Slime ring was in one of the accessory slots, and while it still felt gross, it was in all of his Sets. Extra [END] was always nice. He also noted that what he saw when he Observed clothes had changed its format slightly. Why, he didn't know. He didn't want to think about it, due to the possibility of him having an existential crisis because someone had actually made an update to The Game, which meant someone made it, _which might mean he might be the only real person in a world of NPCs-_

Yeah, not thinking about it was good. He should probably move onto studying soon. But first, maybe he had a skill book or two he in his admittedly small collection of books.

**TWO BITS, VOLUME 1**

**(MANGA)**

**RANK: A**

**TYPE: NONE**

**The long running series of a boy on a quest to become Lord of the Ninjas.**

**MAKE YOUR OWN STORY: SUNKEN TREASURE**

**(BOOK)**

**RANK:C**

**TYPE: NONE**

**A book that follows a different story depending on the choices you make.**

**LITTLE MAGICIANS GUIDE**

**(SKILL BOOK)**

**RANK: E**

**TYPE: NONE**

**A guide on how to juggle, do card tricks, and pull coins from someone's ear. A Skill Book containing the Sleight of Hand Skill! Would you like to learn it? Y/N**

Tsuna had never said Yes to anything so fast. Like the previous Skill Book, the book started glowing and broke apart. Knowledge he couldn't quite consciously understand entered his mind- except 'enter' was the wrong word, it was as if he had always known it.

**[USED A SKILL BOOK TO GAIN A NEW SKILL]**

**[SLEIGHT OF HAND] (Passive) LEVEL 1**

**Card tricks, pencil twirling, misdirection- With this skill, you can do it all! Allows performance of tricks with hands. Increases with [AGI]**

Not the most combat useful maybe, but still cool. Now them, time to test it. Tsuna removed a 50 Yen coin from his Inventory. He held it between his middle finger and index finger of his right hand, and tossed it to his left. He caught it between his left middle and index fingers, and returned it to his right. This continued for a few seconds, before he dropped. So it wasn't perfect, but it worked. Now to check the rest of his books...

-X-

In the end, he found four Skill Books: a coloring book, a book on cars, a manga, and a book he found under his bed about camping.

**[USED A SKILL BOOK TO GAIN A NEW SKILL (x3)]**

**[CRAFTING] (Special) LEVEL MAX**

**Crafting tools, along with their brains, is what allows humanity to fight above their weight class. Requires [RECIPES] to craft things. [RECIPES] are acquired from finding new materials, leveling up Crafting Subskills, and are sometimes dropped from monsters. Crafting Subskills: Art (LEVEL 1), Handmade (LEVEL 1).**

**[DRIVING] (Passive) LEVEL 1**

**More useful than walking, biking, or horseback riding, it's automobiles! Allows vehicles to be driven.**

**[FORAGING] (Passive) LEVEL 1**

**Edible berries, crafting materials, and alchemy reagents! Know what plants do what, and how to harvest them.**

**[Learned 21 new [RECIPES]]**

Unfortunately, the manga did not let him learn the skill it offered. For now, at least.

**CHACHA'S WEIRD QUEST, PART 3: SUNSHINE WARRIORS, VOLUME 1**

**One man, and his friends, go on a journey to kill a vampire that stole his great-grandmother's torso, armed with special breathing and fighting spirit. Contains the skill 'Fighting Spirit'. Would you like learn this Skill? Y/N Requires 25 [CHA], 25 [END], 25 [STR].**

The skill would probably allow him to do one of three things. One, astral project and interact with the world. Two, touch intangible objects and beings. And three, the one he wanted the most, summon a Spirit to fight for him. This was just even more incentive to complete the Quest, and it was good he learned about the requirements now, because that implied that other skills had requirements.

As for his other skills, they were... maybe not the _best_ skills, but they had their uses. Probably. Unlocking the Art Subskill earned him the Handmade Crafting. His four Art Recipes were for a Caricature (which required someone to draw), a Clay Sculpture, Abstract Art (which apparently produced a different artwork each time), and Blue Paint, composed of Blue Goop. He had seventeen Handmade recipes, and the supplies for two of them. He had a Medicinal Herb (E Rank) and three Used Bandages. So he could make one set of Dirty Handwraps, and one Medicine (E Rank). Crafting them, he noticed, was odd. His hands moved, even when he didn't tell them what to do. The things he made were not the best quality, but they were easy to make.

**MEDICINE**

**(RESTORATIVE)**

**RANK: E**

**A simple medicine made from soaking a bandage in the juices of a crushed medicinal herb. Restores 50 HP, heals up to 1 minor harmful Status Effect.**

**DIRTY HANDWRAPS**

**(WEAPON, TWO-HANDED, GAUNTLET)**

**RANK: E**

**TYPE:NONE**

**Handwraps used by martial artists the world over, except they are covered in stains best left unidentified. +1 [STR], + 1 [END] when equipped.**

**[YOU FOUND/MADE/BOUGHT/STOLE YOUR FIRST WEAPON! WEAPONS, MUCH LIKE EQUIPMENT, COMES IN SEVERAL VARIETES: ONE HANDED MELEE, TWO HANDED MELEE, RANGED, PROJECTILE , EXPLOSIVE, [REDACTED], AND [REDACTED]. THEY ARE FURTHER DIVIDED BY THEIR TYPE, SUCH AS SPEAR, SWORD, KNIFE, HANDGUN, BOW, GRENADE, AND MANY, MANY MORE! ONE HANDED WEAPONS ARE OFTEN USED IN ONE HAND, BUT THEY CAN DUAL WIELDED, OR YOU CAN USE A SHIELD IN YOUR OFF HAND. TWO HANDED WEAPONS REQUIRE BOTH HANDS FREE TO USE. RANGED WEAPONS REQUIRE AMMUNITION TO USE. PROJECTILE WEAPONS REQUIRE A FREE HAND TO USE, AND THE PROJECTILE ITSELF. EXPLOSIVE WEAPONS REQUIRE CAUSE DAMAGE TO ANYONE IN THEIR BLAST RADIUS. [REDACTED] WEAPONS REQUIRE [REDACTED]. [REDACTED] WEAPOMS CAN BE ANY TYPE, BUT THEY HARNESS [REDACTED] IN ORDER TO BE USED TO THEIR FULL POWER. WEAPONS EFFECTS ARE MOSTLY RELATED TO [STR], THOUGH NOT ALWAYS.]**

**[YOU FOUND GAUNTLETS! INCREASE SKILL BY LEVELING HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT SKILL, ANY TYPE. CANNOT USE SHIELD. CAN USE PROJECTILE WEAPONS WITH EITHER HAND. OFTEN INCLUDES [END] BOOST IN ADDITION TO [STR]. CLOSE-RANGE.]**

Well that was handy. He unequipped the Dirty Handwraps, and applied them to each set (They went under the gloves in the Ice Set and Cold Set). More to the point, it was time to study, and he would take a run after dinner.

"TSU-KUN! DINNER TIME!"

Running might have to wait until tomorrow. Studying took precedence.

-X-

"Tsu-kun, is something wrong?"

"Hm?" Tsuna looked up at his mother, sitting across the table. "No, why do you ask?"  
  


"You've been kind of quiet today. Did something happen?"

Tsuna chewed his katsudon quietly. _Of all the times for mom to notice something. I can't tell her that I have a magic book that gives me special powers that I'll lose access to if I don't do a quest. Sorry for lying, mom._ Tsuna swallowed, and spoke. "I was thinking about how I haven't done well in school before, and I want to change that. I was going to study tonight, and start going for runs before school and in the evening. I was thinking starting running tomorrow." Okay, so it was sort of lying by omission. Didn't change the fact that he felt a little guilty when his mom started smiling. "Tsu-kun, that's so mature of you! Wait here, I have something you might want." She rushed upstairs, but Tsuna, struck by a sudden impulse, decided to Observe her.

**NAME: SAWADA NANA**

**TITLE: CLUELESS HOUSEWIFE**

**CLASS: N/A**

**LEVEL: 6**

**DESCRIPTION: WIFE OF SAWADA IEMITSU, MOTHER OF SAWADA TSUNAYOSHI. FORMER DEPARTMENT STORE WORKER, CURRENTLY FULL-TIME HOUSEWIFE. CLUESLESS AND SOMEWHAT TACTLESS, BUT LOVING. INCOMPETENT AT THE VERY IDEA OF VIOLENCE.**

Huh. Level 6. He wasn't certain what the average level was for people not in The Game. Another thing on his to-do list. Nana came back down the stairs, holding something behind her back. "This used to be your papa's. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you used it." She moved what she was holding to the front, and unfolded it. It was a very nice looking leather jacket. Maybe it could fit into a Set.

**[REDACTED] LEATHER JACKET**

**(LIGHT ARMOR)**

**RANK: D**

**TYPE: [REDACTED]**

**A leather jacket formerly belonging to Sawada Iemitsu, the inner coating is woven with [REDACTED] from [REDACTED]. Effect: +4 heat resistance, +4 cold resistance, +6 damage resistance, +10 [REDACTED] resistance. [REDACTED] Effect: When [REDACTED], resistances double, [REDACTED].**

...Holy crap. That was leagues above his other stuff. And this was only Rank D? Working on autopilot, he took the jacket from his mother, and put it on. It was a little big, but it was close enough. "Wow... thanks, Mama! I don't know if I can wear it during school, but it's really comfortable- I'll definitely wear it when I can." The blinding smile from his mother made the sour feeling he felt at the mention of his father disappear.

-X-

Tsuna stifled a yawn as the bell rang for lunch. He had managed to read half of his math text book last night before he decided he couldn't do it anymore. Thankfully, the new point of [INT], bringing his total up to eight, made missing his chance to run almost worth it. On a different note, the leather jacket had fit into all his Sets (except Water, Swim, and School, which he was keeping for, well, water swimming, and school, respectively). He wasn't sure what all the [RECDACTED]s meant. Obviously stuff The Game wouldn't tell him, so he had to figure it out himself. He couldn't do it as he was, but he would have to eventually.

"Hey Tsuna-kun! Want to eat lunch with us?"

'Us' turned out to be Kyoko and Hana, the latter of whom was looking a mixture between embarrassed, horrified, and pretending she didn't know him.

_That's a complex facial expression... She's good at those._ Tsuna felt there was only one answer. "Uh, sure!" And that was that. Because, according to Kyoko, it was a ' _perfect day outside!_ ', they wound up eating lunch outside. Thankfully, Namimori allowed that. More specifically, Hibari Kyoya allowed that. As long as you didn't make a lot of noise, and were in a group of four or less, you would not be bitten to death. It was awkward for the first minute or so, because Hana kept glaring at Tsuna, who responded by staring at his bento and counting his rice.

_48...49...50..._

"Sawada." 

Tsuna's head shot up, his heartbeat picking up like he just got jump-scared, and with good reason. Kurokawa Hana was dangerous. Not physically, but he had seen her reduce _adults_ (okay, so it was a twenty-something convenience store worker, but still) to tears to with a few well aimed insults. She was smart. She was sharp-tongued. She was simultaneously incredibly classy and incredibly rude. And she was Kyoko's best friend. Kyoko had invited Tsuna to eat with them. Tsuna, being a boy in middle school, was either a monkey or a creep. There was no in between. This conversation -Tsuna hoped it would be a conversation, and not a barrage of insults designed to reduce his already fragile self-esteem to dust- would be the deciding factor between life and death, at least concerning his almost-dead social life.

"Why did Kyoko invite you to eat with us?"

"HANA! That's extremely rude! Tsuna-kun, you don't have to answer that if you don't-"

"Yesterday, Kyoko-chan apparently decided that we were friends. People eat lunch with their friends, right?"

Hana's head spun so fast Tsuna tought she might get whiplash. "Kyoko, what, when, and why?"

Kyoko looked like a deer in headlights. Guess she wasn't used to being interrogated by her best friend, though she managed to answer. "Um, I decided to be friends with Tsuna-kun, yesterday at lunch, and because I felt like it."

"He hid in a dumpster!"

"Behind a dumpster, actually."

"I wasn't talking to you!"

"The dumpster was a pretty big part of my decision. The rest was because I felt like it."'

Tsuna and Hana both slowly turned to face Kyoko, and stared at her. "...Can you explain why my emergence from behind a dumpster made you want us to be friends."

"Well, you were hiding from bullies. Hana can tell you I don't like bullies."  
  


Hana nodded. "Can confirm."

"Anyway, my thought process was pretty much this- Tsuna is bullied, I don't like bullies, I don't get bullied, Hana doesn't get bullied, Hana is my friend, my friends don't get bullied, if Tsuna was my friend he wouldn't get bullied. Ergo, I decided we would be friends." With that, Kyoko took a bite of a grilled vegetable of some kind.

Tsuna broke the silence first. "... Did you seriously just say 'ergo'?"

"Tsuna-kun, is that really what stood out the most to you?"

"Kyoko, I have been your best friend for years, and I have never heard you say 'ergo'."

Kyoko gave what was supposed to be a glare, but it looked like an angry pout. "Hana!"

Hana responded in turn. "Kyoko."

Tsuna, not to be left out, contributed to the conversation. "Tsuna."

They were silent for about three seconds, before Kyoko started giggling. As she started, so did Tsuna. Even Hana's lips twitched upwards for a second.

"Oh, Tsuna-kun! Guess what kind of cake we made yesterday!"

Tsuna's response was the picture of eloquence and grace. "Huh?"

Kyoko was looking at him expectantly. "You know- I'm in the Cooking Club? We made cake yesterday?"

Tsuna opened his mouth to guess, but Hana clearly had practice interrupting people. "I don't think he knows much about clubs. He don't think he's in any after school activities, clubs, or sports teams. You would know if he was in the Cooking Club, he doesn't practice with any sports team, and I would see him if he did archery."

_Hana does archery? Didn't see that coming._

"Is there something _wrong_ with me doing archery, Sawada?" Kurokawa's tone was near poison, and he knew he had to choose his words carefully. He also knew he had to start making sure he kept his thoughts in his head. 

"N-no, there isn't anything wrong! You doing archery is great! I just... didn't expect it from you. I kind of thought... I don't know, music or something."

Hana's glare reduced from soul-searing to mostly apathetic. "Well, it seems you thought wrong. Back to the original point, are you in any clubs?"

Tsuna fidgeted with his cheap, disposable chopsticks slightly. Absentmindedly, he picked one up in one hand and started twirling it between his fingers. "If you ask Sasagawa -er, Ryohei, that is, I'm in the Boxing Club." The chopstick picked up speed. "If you ask literally anyone else, I'm not in any clubs." Faster and faster, round and round. "None of them really interest me, and the ones that do are things I'd be terrible at." Kyoko seemed oddly focused on the chopstick. "I mean, I can't sing, can't cook, can't do sports, my fingers don't move the way I want them to when I play instruments." Tsuna's sub-average [AGI] score made itself known, and the cheap plastic fell to the ground with a light clatter-ish sound, and Tsuna stopped talking. Kyoko blinked a few times, seeming confused and staring at nothing. Tsuna frowned at his chopstick for betraying him. "Dang it, I can't eat with just one chopstick." Note to self, start carrying chopsticks in inventory.

**[SLEIGHT OF HAND MASTERY +2 LEVELS]**

**[BY INFLICTING THE STATUS EFFECT [HYPNOTIZED], A NEW SKILL WAS GAINED]**

**[HYPNOSIS] (Active) LEVEL 1**

**The mind is the plaything of others- it can be controlled for nearly an purpose. Induce status effect [Hypnotized], in which a target is more receptive to suggestion. Increases with [CHA], resisted with [WIS].**

Also, he decided he shouldn't use that skill. Ever.

Hana sort of... stared at him. He was probably going to be verbally torn to pieces for being useless, wasn't he. Hana opened her mouth-

_CRACK_! "SASAGAWA-CHAN! LOOK OUT!" Tsuna and Hana looked up, to see a baseball flying towards Kyoko, who wasn't reacting. 

_OH, CRAP! Did I accidentally hypnotize and put her brain in a fog or something? Is Kyoko going to be hit? No, she can't, that would seriously injure her, I have to do something!_ Only one thing he could do. Hana and Tsuna moved at the same time. Hana practically tackled Kyoko to the ground. Meanwhile, Tsuna held his hand out and braced it with the other. _This is gonna hurt._

_SMACK,_ went the ball against Tsuna's bare hand. It didn't hurt a bit.

It hurt a LOT.

**[PHYSICAL ENDURANCE +3 LEVELS]**

**[-40 HP]**

Tsuna hunched over and cradled his possibly broken hand. "Owwww..."

Seriously?! A baseball reduced his HP by half?! HOW?! Running footsteps alerted him to a presence, and suddenly it made sense. Yamamoto Takeshi, the ace school's baseball team, and judging by the bat he carried, he had hit the ball. "Sawada, holy crap, are you okay?"

"My hand hurts... I want to see the nurse... wait, is Kyoko-chan okay?"

"She's fine." They turned to look down at Hana, who was helping Kyoko stand up. "I think you accidentally hypnotized her with that chopstick twirling, though."

Tsuna gulped. Seemed Hana had a high WIS score, even if she was unaware of The Game. "In my defense, I wasn't even fully aware I was spinning my chopstick. Also, I didn't know I could apparently hypnotize people."

Hana shrugged. "I didn't expect Kyoko to be hypnotized so easily, but here we are. Also, that baseball was travelling really fast. Doesn't your hand hurt?"

Tsuna held back a whimper of a pain as he tried to move his fingers. "Yes. I would like to go see the nurse now."

"Alright, let's go."

"Okay. Wait, Yamamoto- here." Tsuna gingerly moved the baseball he was still holding from his right to his left, and tossed it to Yamamoto, who caught it. "Lead the way, Kurokawa-san."

Tsuna followed Hana, and a still confused Kyoko, as they headed towards the nurse's office.

Yamamoto made to follow them. "Sawada-"

Hana spun on her heel and GLARED at Yamamoto. "Save it, you stupid monkey. Not only did you almost hit Kyoko, you could have messed up Sawada's hand. So be quiet." With that, she began moving to the nurses office again.

No one was looking, involved in their own business. Except Yamamoto, who stood staring at the trio. He finished his sentence, audible only to himself. "- I'm sorry..."

-X-

"Well, it's not broken. A sprain, at worst. Here." The school nurse handed Tsuna a plastic cup of water and some pills. Using only his left hand, he picked up the pills and put them in his mouth, and swallowed them with the water. Instantly, he felt a little better. Calling up his Status showed that his HP had jumped up some, and was slowly climbing.

"I want you to stay here until the next class is over. Try not to use your hand, and for heaven's sake, don't catch any more baseballs without gloves!"

Turns out, there isn't a whole lot to do lying on a bed in a nurses office. He settled on watching his health climb back up. Each point took a little more than a second. So that the HP regeneration rate was determined by... [END] divided by ten? Without his Dirty Handwraps, he had eight points of [END], so his HP recovered at a rate of 0.8 HP per second. The pain seemed to fade quickly, so he probably could have left now, but everyone knew you didn't disobey old ladies when they told you to stay.

**[FOR DISCOVERING THE HP REGEN RATE, YOU HAVE GAINED 1 POINT OF [INT].]**

**[YOU HAVE GAINED A NEW SKILL]**

**[PROJECTILE MASTERY] (Passive) LEVEL 1**

**Humans possess the unique ability among all beasts to throw things hard and accurate, so put it to good use! Increases Projectile accuracy and damage by 3%.**

Well, he got a skill out of being hit by a baseball. Or from throwing it back to Yamamoto. And hey, he only had to raise his [INT] one more have to get to ten! He was close to average now.

-X-

Finally, _finally_ , the school day was over. He had been allowed to go to his last two classes, Science, which was his least favorite, and History, which was slowly becoming his favorite. Kyoko had been concerned, but he assured her he was fine. And he was. Early on in the class he had to stay in the nurse's office for, his HP had fully restored. Kurokawa, of all people, gave him a copy of the notes, though she didn't respond to his 'thank you'. Still, being able to write two things of such detailed notes during one class was pretty impressive.

Now, to head home, find some weights he could use, run to the Dungeon, and beat up slimes until the boss comes, then Observe it, run away, and then... something else.

"Oi, Sawada."

That was not a voice Tsuna recognized. He turned and looked up to meet the students face- and boy, did he have to look up. Absurdly tall, with a prominent chin, and a pompadour hairstyle. Tsuna decided to observe him, because he had forgotten to Observe people all day.

**NAME: KUSAKABE TETSUYA**

**TITLE: SKYLARK'S LIASON**

**CLASS: N/A**

**LEVEL:16**

**DESCRIPTION: IMPOSING IN FIGURE, KIND IN MANNER. IN CHARGE OF MOBILIZATION OF DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE MEMEBERS, VETTING NEW MEMBERS, AND GENERALLY HIBARI KYOYA'S RIGHT HAND MAN. PREFERS A GENTLE TOUCH TO A FIRM HAND WHEN DEALING WITH DISCIPLINARY COMITTEE MEMBERS, BUT CAN AND WILL GET PHYSICIAL IF THE NEED ARISES.**

"Now, you don't know me, but-"

"You're Kusakabe, right? Hibari's right hand man?"

Kusakabe looked pleasantly surprised at Tsuna's interruption. "That's right. Now, would you mind following me? We have a few things to discuss."

Tsuna may not be the smartest, but he knew that when the Disciplinary Committee wanted to talk to you, you obeyed. "Lead the way."

Up the stairs and through the halls they went, to a short hallway Tsuna didn't recognize. It had four classrooms, two on either side. Kusakabe took led him into the one on the left, closest to them. The first thing that he saw was a kitchenette with a full sized fridge, in the corner opposite the door, by the windows. To the left of that, low filing cabinets to a point around two thirds of the way across the room, still against the wall. In the space between the kitchenette and a large wooden table at the opposite end of the room was about eight definitely-not-school-supplied desks, each with a computer and a swivel chair. By the table, against the wall opposite the large blackboard at the front of the room, were wall to wall, floor to ceiling bookshelves. Stepping inside, he noticed the wall opposite the filing cabinets had a set of lockers. Oh, and It was full of pompadour-donning delinquents in gakuran jackets.

"Uhhh... What?"

Kusakabe ignored Tsuna, and strode over to the filing cabinets. He rummaged through one, and pulled out a folder. Flipping through it, he nodded, and walked over to an empty desk.

Tsuna followed him. "Kusakabe-san, what-"

"Hibari wants you to join the Disciplinary Committee. Something about you dodging him." Kusakabe didn't even look up from grabbing paper and a pen and presenting them to Tsuna. "Sign here, here, and here, initial here, and the date here."

Tsuna just stared, until Gamer's Mind kicked in. "Wait- What? What if I don't want to join?"

Kusakabe looked up at him. "Personally, I would like people to be able to refuse. Unfortunately, Hibari will bite you to death if you refuse. I suggest you don't refuse."

**[NEW QUEST]**

**STRENGTH THROUGH DISCIPLINE**

**The demon has taken an interest in you. Either join the Disciplinary Committee, or be bitten to death...**

**REQUIREMENTS:**

**JOIN DC**

**REWARD**

**5000 YEN**

**DC UNIFORM**

**INCREASE REUPTATION WITH DC, KUSAKABE TETSUYA, HIBARI KYOYA, NAMIMORI MIDDLE STUDENTS (MINOR)**

**WEAPON OF CHOICE**

**FAILURE:**

**BITTEN TO DEATH, HOSPITALIZED FOR TWO WEEKS**

Tsuna signed the forms faster than he had ever written anything. Which wasn't saying much. But when your choices were join a club, or be hospitalized for two weeks, and lose The Game? That was a no-brainer. Kusakabe put them in the folder, handed the folder to a passing delinquent, and left the room, Tsuna in tow. They went into the room opposite, which was mostly empty except for a single DC member. It was filled with lockers, foot lockers, cabinets with glass doors showing medicine, and six beds that looked like they belonged in a hospital. Kusakabe beckoned him over to one of the trunks. Inside was... weapons. Lots of weapons. Crowbars, lead pipes, baseballs bats, chains, what looks to be a few tactical batons- Anything and everything to arm a small army of delinquents. "Hibari's fine with DC members carrying nonlethal weapons, as long as they're only used for approved purposes. Pick one, I've got to get some other stuff." Kusakabe stood, and walked away.

_Weapon of choice... I get to pick one of these._

Tsuna looked. None of them seemed right. Too big, and unwieldly. Nothing that would suit him- wait. Under an aluminum baseball bat, something that would work. He reached in, elbow deep in metal, and removed his prize, glinting under fluorescent lights.

**BRASS KNUCKLES**

**(WEAPON, TWO-HANDED, GAUNTLET)**

**RANK: E**

**TYPE: NONE**

**Found in the hands of thugs and brawlers the world over, these metal 'weapons' are designed to slip right over the fingers. +3 [STR], +2 [END].**

"Brass knuckles, huh? I didn't peg you for the type." Kusakabe was back, carrying a book, an electronic device of some kind, a few plastic boxes, and a pamphlet, all balanced atop a bundle of black fabric. "Here- The DC Rulebook, your PDA, some first aid kits, a first aid pamphlet, and your uniform. Normally, DC members only get one first aid kit, but I thought that you would need a few." Tsuna took the stack of 'gifts'. "Meet me at the gate an hour before school starts tomorrow. We'll do a practice patrol. Remember to wear your uniform, and yes, the pompadour is optional."

"...So... I can go now?" At Kusakabe's nod, Tsuna scurried out of the room, and into they boy's bathroom down the hall. There, he Observed his new items - _First Aid Kit heals up to 200 health and up to 3 minor status conditions, Gakuran offers 50% decrease of being target by Hibari, PDA is for DC members only, rulebook is rules-_ and stowed them away. Except for one.

**FIRST AID GUIDE**

**(SKILL BOOK)**

**RANK: E**

**TYPE: NONE**

**A guide on understanding and treating injuries sustained by humans. A Skill Book containing the First Aid Skill! Would you like to learn it? Y/N**

_Yes._

Like the others before it, the Skill Book began glowing, before it fractured into motes of light, which entered Tsuna and deposited knowledge, as if it had always been there.

**[USED A SKILL BOOK TO GAIN A NEW SKILL]**

**[FIRST AID] (Passive) LEVEL MAX**

**A skill to treat basic injuries, depending on [INT] and supplies at hand.**

That would DEFINITELY be useful later, if the rest of his life was any indication. Tsuna took a moment to wash his hands -Boys bathrooms were _filthy_ \- before xiting and making his way down the stairs, through the halls, past the lockers, towards the gates, past Yamamoto staring wistfully at the baseball field- wait a minute.

Yamamoto Takeshi, the school's baseball star, was standing and staring at the baseball field, seemingly lost in thought. And since he hadn't noticed Tsuna...

_Observe._

**NAME: YAMAMOTO TAKESHI**   
**TITLE: BASEBALL FREAK**   
**CLASS: N/A**   
**LEVEL: 8**

Well _that_ didn't help figure out the average level. His mom was Level 6, and Kusakabe was Level 16. Now, to figure out why he was just standing there.

"Hey Yamamoto." The Baseball Freak -was that really his title?- jumped and spun, staring at Tsuna, before relaxing his stance and allowing a _~~fake~~ _smile to spread across his face.   
"Oh, Dame-Tsuna! Sorry, I was just... thinking."

"About?" Yamamoto shoved his hands in his pockets, and stared off at the baseball field, squinting in the partial sun. Half of the sky had been covered by gray storm clouds, and the distant rumble of thunder promised rain that night. Over the field, wisps of mist danced over the dirt.

"...I'm sorry. For today at lunch. I didn't mean to hit it towards anyone, I swear."

"Oh, yeah. That. I forgive you."

Yamamoto glanced at Tsuna. "Really? Even though almost hit Sasagawa-chan, and could have broken your hand, you forgive me?"

Tsuna frowned. "Well, I forgive your for my hand, at least. I can't forgive you for almost hitting Kyoko-chan. Only she can do that."

Yamamoto's ~~_fakefakefake_~~ smile turned... sadder, but also more real. "Thanks, Tsuna. Normally, I wouldn't practice at lunch, but..."

The silence stretched awkwardly for almost a minute. "... I haven't been getting any better. I practice everyday -running, batting, pitching, catching- and I'm not improving. Sure, I'm better than most of the team. But if I don't improve, I'll fall behind, and then they'll kick me off the team..." He turned to look at Tsuna. "What should I do, Sawada? I've hit a wall, and I don't know how to break it down."

Why was he asking Tsuna? Tsuna didn't know anything about baseball. Was it because he was simply the closest person? Probably. Tsuna wanted to say something like, _'Keep at it, give it 110%, surpass your limits! If you keep training, you'll be certain to improve!'_ Some stock Shonen crap like that. But that wasn't how the real world worked. Tsuna took a moment to pause and think, his increased INT, WIS, and new First Aid Skill working in tandem. "...Take a few days off. Muscles grow by tearing and stretching, and then healing. If you practice everyday, it's more likely that you'll hurt yourself. And if your friends only care about you for baseball... I don't think they're real friends."

Yamamoto's smile morphed into... not a frown, but sadder than a blank face, and not a smile. "'Take a break'? Could that really be the answer to my problem?" Tsuna didn't answer, and the silence stretched on. "...I don't have anything to lose, do I? Thanks, Tsuna. You're pretty reliable. C'mon!" With that, the grinning baseball nut grabbed the newest DC member by the wrist, and took off running.

"Where are you taking me?!"  
  
  


"My old man's restaurant! I'm treating you to sushi!"

-X-

TakeSushi was a relatively small, mostly empty restaurant. A few people sat at the bar, and a man -presumably Yamamto's father- alternated between taking orders, serving food, and going into the kitchen to cook. He glanced up as the duo entered, eager to get out of the rain that had started. "Ah, Takeshi! Welcome home. And who's this?"

Yamamoto some how smiled even more. "This is Tsuna! He helped me with a baseball problem, so I'm treating him to sushi!"

Yamamoto-san smiled, and _wow_ , that was some serious family resemblance. "Alright then! Take a seat, I'll have some out soon." Yamamoto dragged Tsuna -less forcefully this time- over to a booth, and sat opposite from him. In a few minutes, a platter with a large assortment of different sushi was placed between the two middle schoolers. Tsuna hesitantly picked up a piece of fatty tuna, and placed it in his mouth.

His eyes widened, his pupils shrunk, and his jaw would have dropped had he dared risk losing the food. It was _delicious_! It somehow transcended sushi, and entered the realm of the food of the GODS!

"Haha, it's good, isn't it?" Tsuna snapped out of his trance and met Yamamoto's eyes. Yamamoto put a piece of _hosomaki_ in his mouth, and chewed. "Most people tend to react that way. It's really good."

"It's beyond good, Yamamoto! It's amazing!" Yamamoto just laughed, and the two boys ate their fill, and chatted about school -neither was doing so well-, tests -math test coming up-, and baseball. Well, Yamamoto talked AT Tsuna about baseball. But Tsuna listened. Eventually, most of the sushi was gone, and the mindless chatter had devolved into a comfortable silence.

"That was really good, Yamamoto. But I've gotta get home. Do you have, like, a to-go box or...?" Yamamoto slid out of the booth. "We've got some in the kitchen! I'll be right back."

Yamamoto went into a door, apparently leading to the kitchen. With Yamamoto gone, Tsuna looked around TakeSushi from his seat. Booth, table, bar, wall, Yamamoto-san- wait. This was a good opportunity to get more data on people's levels.

_Observe_.

**NAME: YAMAMOTO TSUYOSHI**

**TITLE: STEEL CHEF**

**CLASS: N/A**

**LEVEL: 37**

...Holy _shit_. How the hell was Yamamoto-san so strong?! Drugs? Sushi? A deal with the Devil? The Game? Wait, no, Tsuna was the only one with The Game, right? On the first day, the journal did call it a 'unique phenomenon'. But it didn't explain how he was so STRONG.

"Tsuna?" Yamamoto was back, and moving the remaining sushi into a Styrofoam box. "Everything okay? You're kind of zoning out." 

"Huh? Oh, everything's fine, it's just... Your dad seems pretty cool." Yamamoto's smile grew even wider, if such a thing was possible.

**[LYING +1 LEVEL]**

"You think so too, huh? Yeah, my dad's pretty great. He's apparently a great swordfighter, but he won't show me."

_Sword fighting, huh... I guess that explains it. Or at least, part of it._

"Anyway, here's your sushi! See you tomorr-"

_rumble-FLASH!_

Lightning and thunder made the world blind and deaf, for just a moment. In unison, Tsuna and Yamamoto glanced out the window at the rain. "Wow, it's really coming down. Want to stay until we close up? My dad can drive you home."

Tsuna would be lying if he said it wasn't a tempting offer. But he couldn't afford any delays. "Thanks for the offer, Yamamoto..." He slip a hand into his backpack, hoping Sleight of Hand would help. He found his journal -how did it get there? teleportation?-, accessed the Inventory, and focused. He hadn't really experimented with it, but it SHOULD work.

_Rain Jacket._

"But I've gotta get going." With a flourish, he donned the yellow jacket, and placed the sushi in his backpack.

**[FOR IMPRESSING A PEER WITH A COOL TRICK, YOU HAVE GAINED 1 POINT OF [CHA]**

And with a wave goodbye, he Sprinted out into the rain, towards the alleyway with the dumpster that hid the dungeon. The rain didn't bother him as much as it should have, probably thanks to the +1 water resistance from the rain jacket. After a few minutes of running -with breaks to walk and let his SP bar refill-, he was standing outside the alley, bent over with his hands on his knees, panting.

**[FOR RUNNING TO YOUR DESTINATION, YOU HAVE GAINED 1 POINT OF [END], AND TWO POINTS OF [AGI].]**

**[SPRINT +3 LEVELS]**

Oh hey, he only needed three more AGI to reach ten, if he remembered correctly. And his SP bar was refilled, so it was time to head into the Dungeon, kill some Slimes, summon the Boss, Observe it, then run away. Now, time to enter the Dungeon.

...

Why wasn't he moving? No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move his feet and enter the Dungeon, or move out of the light but annoying rain.

...

He knew why he wasn't moving. He was afraid. Afraid that, if he went in there, he would lose The Game, or worse, his life.

...

But he also knew not entering was a guaranteed loss of The Game. He had to go in there, if he wanted a _chance_ to keep it. He had to beat this Quest, even if it killed him.

...

Slowly, his left foot lifted up and moved forwards. When it was on the ground, his right did the same. It took him over a minute, but he moved from the mouth of the alley to the dumpster, and in another minute, was inside the -thankfully not rainy- Dungeon. He equipped his Combat Set, leather jacket and brass knuckles probably making him look like a thug -or a kid playing pretend-, but making him feel safe. He had armor, he had weapons. He could- He WOULD do this. He would beat this Quest, even if it killed him.

**[FOR MAKING A PROMISE ~~with your dying will~~ AND CONTINUING DESPITE YOUR FEAR, YOU HAVE GAINED 2 POINTS OF [CHA].]**

Despite the 'static' in the notification, Tsuna smiled. Everything would be okay. He had six days to beat this Quest. More than enough time. School could be spent grinding Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma, and Strength, Endurance, and Agility could be earned by PE and his new club duties. Any money he earned would go towards buying Skill Books, new equipment, and new items. At home, he could practice Skills. He would do this. Tsuna took a confident step forward...

...Right onto a Slime, which leapt towards his face.

"HIIEEE!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I was writing this, a big chunk of it got deleted TWICE. No excuse for being so late, though. Thank you all for being so patient.
> 
> Story notes:
> 
> The equipment might be weird to figure out, so allow me to draw it by typing it out, sort of
> 
> 1___2
> 
> x 
> 
> x
> 
> x___x
> 
> x
> 
> x
> 
> x___ x__________________________o  
> _______________________________/|\  
> x______________________________/\
> 
> x
> 
> x___x
> 
> x
> 
> Something like that, with each x being a square, and the underscores because it would only show one space when I typed 6, and to make it line up right. The stick figure is their 'avatar' that shows what they look like, except bigger and a picture of whoever the page is about. Top to bottom, it's head, torso, arms, legs, feet, right hand weapon, left hand weapon, three accessories. Second column is, top to bottom, shirt, underwear, socks. I'm trying to have it make sense to me at least, and the equipment was kind of messing with my head trying to visualize, until I made the second column.
> 
> I think/hope I'm using honorifics correctly. No honorifics can be either super rude, or when you're super close to someone, right?
> 
> Tsuna's School Set is the Namimori Middle School uniform, and the Slime Ring. No Dirty Handwraps, no leather jacket, no Brass Knuckles (wow, those handwraps lost utility quick). Why? Hibari would hunt him down for breaking the dress code. No one notices the ring, though. More on that later.
> 
> For the baseball thing, Yamamoto, at a point early on the manga, can swing a baseball bat at 300 km per hour. This is earlier than canon, but the average MLB baseball bat swing is about 112 km per hour. In miles, 112 km is about 70 miles, while 300 km is about 190 miles. A baseball hit by a bat at 190 miles per hour would seriously hurt someone. Yamamoto didn't swing the bat at 300 miles per hour, or else Tsuna's HP would be depleted completely. But still, catching a baseball hit by a bat swung at ridiculous speeds attainable only by Yamamoto would HURT, especially without a glove.
> 
> Disciplinary Committee will henceforth be called DC, The Committee, or Delinquent Club.
> 
> No one introduced (aside from Kurokawa, Kusakabe, and sometimes Tsuna) actually think before they act, that's why Hibari had Tsuna join the DC, and also why Yamamoto took Tsuna to get sushi. Also, Tsuna's Sky Flames are really strong, even sealed. He leaves a bigger impression than most, despite his... everything else.
> 
> Kurokawa's basically like: 'Kyoko likes you, so I'll tolerate you. But I stg, if you embarrass yourself in front of us, we don't know you.' In short, she neither approves nor disapproves of him.
> 
> I'm trying to strike a balance between school stuff, writing, and video games/anime. 
> 
> I finished this at midnight, so some parts might not be the best...
> 
> If you have questions, ask and I'll answer! Unless they're spoiler-y...
> 
> Edit: Accidentally called Nana Iemitsu's husband. Changed that to wife.


	5. A Boring Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsuna Observes the Boss, grinds Stats and Skills, has his first patrol as part of the DC, and meets new people.

Slimes were not that hard to defeat, really.

SMACK! Tsuna’s foot swung forward and launched a Slime into one of the weird trees.

They were really soft, so they didn’t hurt his knuckles.

POP! The Slime practically exploded as Tsuna’s fist reduced its HP to zero.

In addition, the Brass Knuckles’ STR boost didn’t just affect his fists, it affected his entire body. Kicks, elbows, knees, slaps, the odd headbutt- they were all stronger than they would be. Which was nice.

THUD! A Slime leapt into Tsuna’s back, knocking him forward, but the newest member of the DC managed to stumble forward and spin in a shoddy rendition of a kick from an old martial arts movie he watched a few weeks ago. The Slime’s gelatinous form broke apart, 50 Yen and a Blue Goop landing on the ground.

 _That makes twenty-four_ , Tsuna noted as he collected the loot. One thing he had noticed was that enemies dropped loot on their ‘point of death’, instead of following the momentum of their… bodies (Killing the Slimes made him feel nauseous, but he NEEDED to do it). He deposited the drops -100 Yen and a Blue Goop- and leaned against a tree. He had some time before his meters refilled, so…

“Status.” As he spoke, Tsuna’s book -always hovering just out of sight- floated to point around mid-torso, around a foot away from him and flipped to the Status. Didn’t block his view, that was nice.

**NAME: TSUNAYOSHI SAWADA**

**TITLE: NO-GOOD TSUNA**

**CLASS: N/A**

**LEVEL: 2**

**EXP: 58/150**

**HP 110/110**

**[REDACTED] 0/0**

**SP 55/55**

**STR 5 (8)**

**END 8 (11)**

**AGI 7**

**WIS 12**

**INT 9**

**CHA 7**

**POINTS TO SPEND: 0**

Well that was different. It seemed the numbers outside of parentheses were his normal stats, and the ones inside were with items. Neat. He closed the book and took a look around at the environment. It was very clearly not Earth. The presence of two suns, the blue grass, the trees that had branches that look like roots without leaves, the Slimes- all signs pointing to ‘Not-Earth’.  
  
Alright! Back to fighting Slimes. Then, Observe the Boss when it showed up, go home, do homework, study, try to find stuff to work out with. Tsuna stood up and brushed dirt from his pants. Looking around, he soon spotted the next Slime, just sitting there- lying there? Whatever.

The Silme didn’t get a chance to do anything, as Tsuna jumped onto it, and began stomping on it.

POP! Went number twenty-five.

**[DEFEAT THRESHOLD REACHED. BOSS SUMMONED]**

Oh. Oh no. That wasn’t good- and yet, it was also not bad. Now was Tsuna’s chance to observe the Boss and run. Now, where was it… AHA! There it was, the Slime the size of a minivan roughly twenty meters away, not paying attention to him.

…Yeah, that seemed like it would be a Boss. The only reason Tsuna wasn’t having a panic attack was because of Gamer’s Mind. Thankfully, it kept him calm and focused enough to let him Observe before he ran away. Which he would totally do after he Observed the Boss.

**[GIANT SLIME]**

**< BOSS>**

**FAMILY: SLIME**

**LEVEL: 5**

**HP: 300/300**

Huh. That seemed… tough. Wait, how much HP did normal Simes have? There was one not too far away that hadn’t noticed him, maybe he could just…

_Observe._

**[SLIME]  
  
FAMILY: SLIME  
  
LEVEL: 1  
  
HP: 15/15**

Fifteen health. They took, on average, two hits to defeat. So that meant Tsuna’s attacks were equal to his STR? But if Tsuna had an END stat, why wouldn’t the slimes? It would probably be pretty low, something like one. Actually, now that he was thinking about it, Tsuna didn’t know how that worked. Was there a separate rating for defense, or was it simply END that changed how many hits you could take? Wait, no, he remembered. END affected resistance to pain and damage, as well as HP and SP.

Speaking of stats, Hand-to-Hand Mastery had gone up a few times. It was at level six, currently. Not too shabby, though the skill didn’t affect his STR yet.

Right, new steps in the plan. Do his best to memorize everything he had learned about The Game so far and read everything he could in his Journal. After he snuck out of the Dungeon, at least…

Five tense minutes of tiptoeing later, Tsuna was leaning against the wall of the alley. Sneak had apparently leveled three times, which was nice. The rain had gone from ‘downpour’ to ‘drizzle’, which was also nice. He switched back to his Rain Set and began Sprinting home. Gotta raise that AGI score.

-X-

"I’m home!” Tsuna slipped off his shoes, having changed to his School Set outside the house. In retrospect, he should have done it inside. Ah well.

“Oh, Tsuna! You’re soaked! Go take a warm bath, I’ll have dinner ready soon.” Mamma shooed Tsuna up the stairs and into the bathroom.

The warm bath water did feel good. The status update he got halfway through the bath? Less good.

**[FOR UNDERGOING REPEATED EXPOSURE TO A HARMFUL STIMULUS, YOU HAVE GAINED A NEW SKILL]**

**[PATHOGEN RESISTANCE] (passive) LEVEL 1**

**VENOM, POISON, SICKNESS- SILENT, DEADLY KILLERS. WITH THIS SKILL, YOU ARE ABLE TO RESIST OR BE OUTRIGHT IMMUNE TO THEM! 1% TO RESISTING PATHOGEN INDUCED STATUSES AND DAMAGE.**

**[RESISTING COMMON COLD…]**

**[RESISTING COMMON COLD…]**

**[RESISTING COMMON COLD…]**

**[TURN OFF REPEATED MESSAGES? Y/N]**

Tsuna sighed and turned off repeated messages. Hopefully, he wouldn’t be sick. He had his first day as a DC member tomorrow, and he didn’t want to miss it. Not that he was excited for it, he just feared the wrath of Hibari.

-X-

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Tsuna slammed his hand on his alarm clock, except the ringing didn’t stop. Blinking the sleep from his eyes, Tsuna sat up. What the _hell_ was ringing at -he checked his clock- six in the morning?!

Looking around, he saw the PDA Kusakabe had given him yesterday on his desk, vibrating, lighting up, and beeping. Stumbling out of bed and over to his desk, Tsuna picked up the PDA and read the message on the screen.

_C37 IN SECTION 4._

Below that, a direct message to him.

_Ignore that, Sawada. Just be at the school gates by 7:30. -Kusakabe_

Well, Tsuna was already awake. Might as well take the time to grind some stat points. _Let’s see, my lowest stat -without counting bonuses from equipment- is STR. Push-ups seem… not too hard._

Ten minutes later, Tsuna decided he would have to take that back. Push-ups were agonizing. The extra point each of STR and END were _not_ worth it. Maybe something on the internet could help. Tsuna grabbed his phone and began tapping out a search. Apparently, some exercises that didn’t need equipment were push-ups (no), jumping jacks (he didn’t want to wake up Mamma by jumping), lunges, sit-ups, crunches, and squats. Those last few seemed doable, at the least.

What followed was half an hour of exercising until he collapsed, a break to lets his SP refill, and more exercising. The results: two points to STR, two points to END. With END now at a value greater than 10 ( _not including equipment bonuses_ ), he could take time to focus on other, more important things. At the moment, that would be INT. He just needed one more point for it to be 10. With his new points in STR, he needed 3 in that, CHA, and AGI to get everything to 10. And he still had, what five or six days? He could do this. Granted, defeating the boss would be tough… But in the meantime, maybe he could do some small Quests in the meantime for EXP, and sweet, sweet Stat Points. Fight some Slimes, grind some Skills, get some Skill Books… It wasn’t a ‘plan’, exactly, more like just some general steps to take.

Speaking of taking steps, he needed to get going. It was almost 7, and he needed to be at school by 7:30.

-X-

**[FOR RUNNING TO YOUR DESTINATION, YOU HAVE GAINED 1 POINT OF [END], AND 2 POINTS OF [AGI].]**

**[STATUS EFFECT: COMMON COLD RESISTED!]**

Those were the notifications that Tsuna got as he skidded to a halt outside the school gates, leaning over and panting. Extra END was always nice, and only one more AGI left until ten. Seemed like the Boss was going to end up the most difficult.

“Morning, Sawada.” Looking up, Tsuna saw Kusakabe leaning against the school gate. “Right on time. Got your uniform?” Kusakabe met Tsuna’s nod with one of his own. “Put it on,and follow me.” Tsuna reached into his bag, pulled out the gakuran jacket, and put it on, Brass Knuckles in the pockets.

Tsuna had to do a half-jog to keep up with Kusakabe as they headed towards the DC Offices, as Tsuna learned they were called. “So… what’s a C37, and where’s Section 4?” Kusakabe didn’t slow or look back as they went up the stairs.

“A Code 37 is unlawful gatherings, and Section 4 is Namimori Park. Some high school students were smoking near the picnic tables. Park doesn’t open until seven, so they had to be escorted away.” The door to the Main Office, where Tsuna had signed the forms yesterday, slid open. A few DC members did a double take as he walked in wearing a gakuran, but a _look_ from Kusakabe had them go back to what they were doing.

Kusakabe stopped at one of the filing cabinets and began looking through it. “There’s a chapter in the DC Rulebook about that stuff. Try to skim through it by the end of next week. Right, now where is it… Here we go.” A piece of paper was presented to Tsuna, who promptly Observed it.

**NAMIMORI MIDDLE MAP**

**RANK: D**

**  
INHABITANTS:**

**HIBARI KYOYA**

**KUROKAWA HANA**

**KUSAKABE TETSUYA**

**MOCHIDA KENSUKE**

**SASAGAWA KYOKO  
SASAGAWA RYOHEI**

**YAMAMOTO TAKESHI  
[VIEW FULL LIST]**

**  
NEZU-SENSEI**

**[VIEW FULL LIST]**

**EFFECT: INCREASE TO [INT] GAIN RATE**

Upon closer inspection, with his actual eyes, Tsuna noticed several paths throughout the schools, each a different color. Red, green, blue, yellow… that was just a few. “What is this, Kusakabe-san?”

“It’s a map of the different patrol routes for DC members. Let’s see, for today, I’ll put you on… the Orange Route.” Huh. Orange, just like the cover of his Journal. “It’s pretty simple. The Orange Route is near the baseball fields, so just follow the path and be on the lookout for people breaking any rules. I’ll be following you in case you need any assistance.”

**[NEW QUEST]**

**[ON THE BEATEN PATH]**

**It’s time for your first patrol as a DC member!**

**REQUIREMENTS:  
  
FOLLOW THE ORANGE ROUTE.**

**REWARDS:  
  
100 EXP**

**PENALTY:  
  
DECREASE REPUTATION WITH DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE (MEDIUM)**

**ACCEPT? Y/N**

Tsuna accepted. Decreasing his reputation with the DC would likely result in being bitten to death, and no one wanted that. Also, he should look into what reputation actually does.

  
  
**[NEW FEATURE UNLOCKED]**

**[THE [PATHWAY SYSTEM] IS A FEATURE THAT SHOWS THE ROUTE TO FOLLOW FOR A [QUEST]. IT REQUIRES A MAP OF THE AREA, A DESTINATION FROM A [QUEST], KNOWLEDGE OF THE DESTINATION, AND THE [JOURNAL] TO BE OPENED TO THE MAP OF THE AREA.**

That was helpful. With a thought, Tsuna had the Journal flip from the recently opened [HELP] page to the Namimori Middle Map. And there it was, snaking past the baseball field, around some of the outer buildings, and into the main entrance: The Orange Route.

Tsuna closed his eyes and took a breath. Okay. He could do this. This was simple. He just had to go around, and stop people older, bigger, meaner, and stronger than him from doing bad things. Easy.

With the ever-present threat of being bitten to death looming over him, Tsuna left the Main Office with a stiff gait, Kusakabe following at a distance.

-X-

It wasn’t actually that bad. It was pretty early, so most people hadn’t arrived yet. He made it about a third of the way through his patrol before someone called out to him.

“Oi, Tsuna!”  
  
It was Yamamoto, leaning against the fence around the baseball field. It was completely empty, except for him. Tsuna jogged over to the smiling baseball star. “Something wrong, Yamamoto-kun?” _Please don’t be practicing not even a day after you said you wouldn’t._

Yamamoto let out a chuckle and rubbed the back of his head. “Well, I came here to practice, but then I remembered that I’m taking a break! So, I just decided to hang out here until school starts.”  
  
“How long have you been here?”  
  
“About an hour. Oh hey, since when are you part of the Disciplinary Committee?”

“Huh? Oh,” Tsuna followed Yamamoto’s gaze to his gakuran jacket, and the red band around the left arm. “Since… yesterday? Today’s my first patrol, so… Listen, I have to keep going. I’ll see you later, though.”

Yamamoto just smiled. “See ya, Tsuna!”

Tsuna jogged back onto the route, hoping he wouldn’t get in trouble for talking to Yamamoto. He did have to leave the patrol route, after all. Maybe he could defend himself by saying Yamamoto was reporting something. _No, Tsuna, stop worrying about things that haven’t happened yet._

“Sawada?” Tsuna stopped and turned. Someone else was calling his name. A girl, to be precise. But why would a girl want to talk to- Oh, it was Kurokawa. That made sense. She had a bow in one hand and a quiver of arrows over her shoulder. That… made less sense, at least until he recalled that she was part of the Archery Club- Archery Team? Which was it?

“Why are you here so early? And what’s with the gak- When did you join the Deliquent Club?” Kurokawa’s expression switched from suspicious to disbelief. Made sense. She probably saw him as Dame-Tsuna, despite her almost-friendliness the other day. He didn’t blame her, though, he hadn’t done anything to prove otherwise.

“I joined the DC yesterday, today’s mt first patrol, and I should probably keep going or else I’ll-“

“Be bitten to death, right.” Kurokawa finished for him, nodding. “Well, Kyoko would be upset if you got bitten to death. So… go patrol, I guess.”

“Right, see you later Kurokawa-san.” Tsuna nodded and went back to the route. _Okay, two interruptions but I’m almost done. Hopefully no one is ‘crowding’, I don’t think I could beat anyone in a fi-_

“Haha, seriously?! What is this crap? ‘Robotics for Geniuses’? ‘Programming: The Language of the Future’? ‘A.I.: The Next Step in Technological Evolution’?! What does ‘A’ even stand for?”

“I-it, um, stands for artificial…:  
  
“Well, mister _Smarty-Pants_ , what’s ‘I’ stand for?”  
  
“I-int-telligence…”

“And what does the ‘A’ stand for?”

“A-arti- _OOF_!”

“Trick question, loser! I already asked that!”

Tsuna was near the gates when he heard the telltale sound of bullying. A sound he was all too familiar with. He peeked out and spotted several Namimori Middle upperclassmen surrounding a small red-headed boy with glasses, wearing a uniform Tsuna didn’t recognize.

_Observe._

**NAME: IRIE SHOICHI**

**TITLE: ANXIOUS INVENTOR**

**CLASS: N/A**

**LEVEL: 3**

Irie… that name was familiar. If Tsuna recalled correctly, they had gone to the same elementary school, though they were never in the same class. And he was being bullied, in front of Nami Mid, by Nami Mid students. That seemed like something the DC should intervene in. Hopefully Kusakabe was still following him and would step in if it became necessary.

Tsuna stepped out of the gate, very literally shaking in his shoes, but still going forward. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket, and subtly slipped on his Brass Knuckles. “E-excuse me.”

Irie, as well as the three upperclassmen, turned to look at him. Irie was clutching his stomach and wearing a look of confusion, mild pain, and faint recognition. The bullies, on the other hand, wore amused leers on their faces. The (presumably) lead bully stepped forward, a red beanie on his head setting him apart from the other two. “Hey, No Good Tsuna! Come to join Mister Nerd here in getting beat up, have you?”

“Actually…” Tsuna was shaking. Could he really fight three upperclassmen? Signs pointed to no, but he wasn’t just going to let them beat someone up. “Beating people is, uh, against the Namimori Middle School Code of Conduct. Stop now, or… y-you will be b-bitten to death.” Wow, if it wasn’t for the trembling voice, pauses in talking, or the stutter, that might have actually been almost cool. Unfortunately, the bullies didn’t see it like that, if the laughter was anything to go by.

Beanie stepped forward again, wearing a cocky smirk. “Oh? And who’ll ‘b-bite me to death’? You?” With that, he swung his fist forward. A few days ago, Tsuna would have probably been hit in the face. Now?  
  
Tsuna dodged, easily. He wasn’t good at the striking part of fighting, but he had years of experience learning which hits to take and which to dodge. Combine that with The Game’s quite frankly absurd rate of growth, it was pretty easy to duck under the wild haymaker, grab Beanie’s arm, and pull him off-balance. An instinctual kick to a place a middle-school boy would find sensitive sent him to the floor, gasping and clutching the afflicted area.

Tsuna let out a shaky breath. That… really should have been more difficult, right? Maybe stats and Skills had evened the playing field after all. Unfortunately, the other two ( _who looked_ really _similar, maybe they were twins_ ) were not willing to surrender, if the snarling and readying of fists was anything. Tsuna was much less confident about taking on two people at once, especially without the element of surprise on his side. Still, he slid his feet into position, and raised his arms. It was a mockery of the boxing stance he had seen Ryohei take in their ‘spar’, but it looked not terrible.

The twin on the left, Tweedledee, moved first, and moved FAST. Even when Tsuna tried to dodge, the upperclassman’s fist slammed into his shoulder knocking him off balance, which Tweedledum capitalized on by grabbing him from behind -when did he get there?- and lifting him off the ground. Tsuna was familiar with the tactic, so he thrashed in the older boy’s grip, until the back of his skull collided with the bully’s nose. With that, Tsuna was unceremoniously dropped to the ground, but he managed to roll to his feet and stumble a few steps back.

_Okay, I can do this. Just do like they did in Hands of Hatred._

Tsuna ran forward, leaping into the air and kicking off the wall - _thank you, Freerunning, Sprint, AGI, and Hand-to-Hand Mastery_ \- shoulder colliding with Tweedledee’s torso in an odd flying tackle. The upperclassman stumbled but did not fall. He actually looked angrier than when the fight started, if such a thing was possible.

_Maybe if my body moved the way I wanted it to and actually_ kicked _he would have fallen._ Tsuna stood, hunched over and out of breath. _Okay, wall-jump kicks, even just attempts, are very tiring. Good to know._ The twins stepped forward, cracking their knuckles. Tsuna looked behind him, at Irie, who was still sitting on the ground, back to the wall. “What are you still doing? Run!” Irie didn’t move, just stared with wide eyes. Tsuna growled quietly and looked forward at the advancing bullies. This was bad, to say the least. He had done a LOT better than he thought he would, but it seemed that still wasn’t enough. Even so…

_I can’t just let these jerks do what they want!_

Tweedledee and Tweedledum were still advancing, but Tweedledum -signified by a bleeding nose- sported a look of surprise… for about two seconds, before a book slammed into his face. Tsuna spun so fast he almost got whiplash. Irie was standing up, and based on his pose, he had thrown the book. Of course, the post-throwing pose devolved into clutching his stomach and anxiously muttering a stream of _‘ohgodwhydididothatimsodead’._ Which was… less than ideal. Turning back, Tweedledum was standing back up, a look of rage barely covered by the hand clutching his nose, which was gushing blood. Tsuna gulped, and the shaking returned. He was so dead…

“Okay. That’s enough.”

Those three words bought about half a second in which no one moved. That was enough time for Kusakabe to slam a metal staff on the back of the Twin’s heads.

“Physical confrontations, outside of sanctioned events, will not be tolerated in Namimori, regardless of the target.” The sun shone on Kusakabe just right, and in that moment Tsuna understood why he was second in command of the DC. He may not have Hibari’s monstrous strength, but he had a _presence_ about him, like he would keep everyone grounded and safe.

“Sawada.” At Kusakabe’s call, the brunette looked up at his superior. “Good on you for intervening but try to avoid that flashy stuff from movies. Looks cool, but it’s inefficient and impractical. Overall, six out of ten. Now, redhead. Do you need help?”  
  
Irie just stayed there stock still, before grabbing his bag and sprinting away. _He left one of the books behind,_ Tsuna thought as he crouched down to pick it up. “I’ll hold on to this in case I see him, Kusakabe-san.” A quick glance showed that sidewalk was devoid of students, not counting the bullies. “So, uh, can I go to class now?” Kusakabe nodded, and Tsuna ran inside.

**[FOR DEFENDING AN INNOCENT IN A SPAR, YOU HAVE GAINED 1 POINT OF [STR], 1 POINT OF [END], AND 1 POINT OF [CHA].]**

**[REPUTATION INCREASE [MINOR] WITH KUSAKABE TETSUYA]**

**[REPUATION INCREASE [MEDIUM] WITH IRIE SHOICHI]**

**[REPUTATION DECREASE [MAJOR] WITH HIDAKA ICHIGO, HIDAKA ICHIRU, AND NAKAMURA GORO]**

**[SKILLS HAVE LEVELLED UP! HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT MASTERY: FREESTYLE x1! PHYSICAL ENDURANCE x1! FREERUNNING x1!]**

**[QUEST COMPLETED: ON THE BEATEN PATH]**

**[REWARDS: 100 EXP]**

**[LEVEL UP]**

**[YOU HAVE REACHED LEVEL 3]**

**[YOU HAVE GAINED 5 STAT POINTS]**

Tsuna slumped against a wall and rubbed his head. Seemed like a lot of notifications at once led to headache. Good to know. But hey, he leveled up! If he didn’t get to 10 CHA by the end of the week, he had a backup. Now, on to class.

But first, change out of his gakuran and wash the blood off him. No one noticed the fight or saw him enter the school afterwards, but someone would notice that.

-X-

School passed quickly, and when the bell rang, Tsuna Sprinted to the nearest bookstore, positioned quite close to the Dungeon entrance. There, he browsed the shelves, looking to buy some Skill Books. He had got quite a bit of money from fighting Slimes and joining the DC, so he should be able to find something usef- Tsuna bumped into a stranger.

“Gah- Sorry, sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going and I- Sorry!” The stranger -a girl with dark hair in a uniform he recognized as Midori Junior High’s- stood up and brushed herself off. “It’s fine! Haru wasn’t looking where she was going, either!”

“Uh… Well, I’m Sawada Tsunayoshi. It’s nice to meet you.”

“My name is Miura Haru! It’s nice to meet you as well, desu!”

_Observe._

**NAME: MIURA HARU**

**TITLE: DISGUISE ENTHUSIAST**

**CLASS: N/A**

**LEVEL: 4**

Huh. Disguises would be a useful skill at some point. Probably. Maybe. Okay, the chances of it being useful were slim to none. But still, spies wore disguises, and who didn’t want to be a spy at some point? Nobody, that’s who.  
  


“Hey, can you help me? I’m looking for a book on-OOF.” Tsuna’s shoulder thumped against a bookshelf, caused by a rather scary looking (presumably) high schooler knocking into him. The tall boy didn’t even spare a glance as he continued to the cash register.

“Rude… huh? Hey, high school guy! You dropped your wallet!” Tsuna held up the red leather square he found on the floor next to him, the high schooler probably having dropped it on accident.

“Hey wait a minute! That’s Haru’s wallet!” At Haru’s indignant exclamation, Tsuna flipped it open. True to her word, there was a picture of her alongside what was probably her family. “Wait, that means… That guy stole your wallet!”

The high schooler, who had been standing there looking increasingly nervous, chose moment to bolt. He was probably on the track team, because he was FAST.

“Well… Here’s your wallet, I guess.”

**[REPUTATION INCREASE [MAJOR] WITH MIURA HARU]**

“Thank you, Sawada-kun! I’m glad he bumped into you, because that’s probably what caused him to drop my wallet.” Haru glanced at her watch and jumped impressively high. “HAHI! Haru’s going to be late for gymnastics! See you around, Sawada-kun!”  
  
“See… ya…” Haru had already left by the time Tsuna had gotten a single word out. That… was a weird encounter. He should probably notify the DC, buy some Skill Books, and- was that a chemistry kit?

-X-

It turned out it was a hobby shop as well as a book store. Puzzles, board games, arts and crafts, and children’s chemistry kits- which, according to Observe, would allow him to do basic Alchemy. It looked nice on his desk, but the shortage of ‘Reagents’ -Crafting Materials specifically for Alchemy- in his Inventory was less nice. Eighteen Blue Goops, six Medicinal Herbs (E Rank), and… yeah, that was it. Not enough to make anything aside from Minor Health Potions. Which, while useful, didn’t seem like enough to defeat the Giant Slime.

After unboxing the chemistry set, Tsuna took a moment to use the Skill Books he had bought.

**[USED A SKILL BOOK TO GAIN A NEW SKILL (x2)]**

**[SEWING] (Subskill) LEVEL 1**

**The art of working with fabrics. A useful skill for fashionistas or lovers of disguise!**

**[MEDITATION] (Active) LEVEL 1 COST: N/A**

**Take a moment. Breathe in, breathe out. Don’t think, just be. This is meditation, a way of opening the mind practiced by monks and martial artists for generations.**

**HP, SP and [REDACTED] recovery speed increased by 100%. Cannot be performed while moving.**

He couldn’t find a book on disguises, but even without knowing the specifics, Meditation had seemed like a good idea. And it was. Recovery speed was never not good, though the not-moving was less than ideal. But, if Tsuna recalled correctly, he had… 16 points of END? That meant if he was Meditating, he would regain HP and maybe SP at a rate of 3.2 points per second. If he was reduced to 1 HP, it would take him… about fifty seconds to get back to full HP. Not too bad.

**[FOR DOING A MENTAL EQUATION, YOU HAVE GAINED 1 POINT OF [INT].]**

And he only needed two more points of CHA to be average, in terms of stats. Well, mostly. His END seemed like it might be above average.

Tsuna went over to his desk, and grabbed a notebook (unused since the year started) and a pen. _Right, time to make an actual plan._

_Tsuna’s Plan for Keeping The Game_

  1. _Use Foraging Skill to find Reagents and make potions._
  2. _Increase CHA. After all Stats are at least 10, increase STR._
  3. _Grind Hand-to-Hand Combat Mastery._
  4. _Try to learn more useful Skills._
  5. _Fight Boss._



_Other Goals_

  1. _Do Quests to get EXP._
  2. _Explore Namimori._
  3. _Learn more about The Game._
  4. _What is [REDACTED], how do I learn about it?  
  
_



Tsuna leaned back in his seat. It definitely seemed doable, though he might be cutting it close. But…

People believed in him. Kyoko, Ryohei, Kusakabe, probably Yamamoto and Kurokawa, too. Hell, _Hibari_ of all people saw something in him. That was reason enough to believe he could do it. Standing up, Tsuna left his room and down the stairs.  
  
“Mom, I’m going for a walk!” With that, he shut his door and headed towards the forest.

It was time to do some Alchemy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyway. I am going through canon with a butcher knife. Earlier introductions and events, ascended extras, and some changing of the plot in the future (maybe).
> 
> Let's see...
> 
> Not a whole lot happened. Too bad. Next chapter will be in a more 'snapshot' manner of telling it, and will tell the Quests end... plus something I'm sure people have been waiting for, and will have to keep waiting for.
> 
> Tsuna's been raising his Stats pretty quickly. That won't last for long. He can improve so quickly thanks to The Game, but when stats reach around 15 they get difficult to increase.
> 
> Do Archery Teams/Clubs practice in the mornings, in Japan? Namimori Middle's does, because I said so.
> 
> Tsuna being able to fight the upperclassmen is due to them underestimating him, the element of surprise, and a teeny-tiny bit of help from Vongola Instincts. NOT INTUITION! Instincts. The Instincts won't really be discussed, but they're sort of- his Intuition leaking out? I can't really describe it. Well, maybe. Intuition is being simultaneously hyper-aware and distantly-aware of the things around you. Instincts is being unconsciously aware of what's in front of you. Or maybe is Instincts is Intuition when you aren't aware of it. I don't know (yet).
> 
> Shoichi and Haru will be coming back. Shoichi will get his book.
> 
> Those three bullies, plus the pickpocket? Irrelevant. They won't be returning, aside from maybe a reference or two.
> 
> Tsuna might just eat a bunch of plants and wig out to improve his Alchemy.
> 
> Why did Tsuna fight? Because he doesn't much like bullies, and he's scared of being bitten to death for failing to complete his duties as a DC member.
> 
> Thanks for being so patient while I slowly write (and hopefully improve)! I'm trying to keep each character 'in character', but not all of them got a whole lot of characterization in the manga.
> 
> Uh... I might have forgotten something. I'll try to answer any non-spoiler questions if you ask.
> 
> edit: how do you write fight scenes?
> 
> edit2: formatting


	6. Snapshots of Success

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tsuna prepares for the fight, and also does the fight.

Tsuna left his house with a plan to go to the woods and use his Foraging Skill to find Alchemy Reagents.

He came back soaking wet, covered in scratches and mud, four levels in Pathogen Resistance, three levels in Alchemy, five levels in Foraging, three levels in Hand-to-Hand Combat Mastery, twenty-two new reagents, thirteen new Alchemy recipes, three of a non-reagent crafting material called ‘Shining Scales’, one hundred out of three hundred EXP needed to reach Level 4, twigs in his hair, rocks in his shoes, notifications saying that he had resisted [POISON], [BLINDNESS], [PARALYSIS], [CONFUSION], and [AMNESIA], a notification that said he had discovered a new dungeon called [SERPENT’S CAVE], and no memories of the previous -according to the kitchen clock displaying 9:30 PM- five and a half hours.

His mom was understandably upset and made him eat his dinner before sending him up to bathe and go to bed. As he relished in the feeling of warm water on his aching body, he made a mental note of two things: one, don’t just eat random plants in the woods to increase Alchemy, and two, apparently notifications would wait until he was aware of himself to make themselves known. He still didn’t quite understand them, weird not-thoughts deposited in his head. They didn’t have spoken words, but he could understand them regardless. And honestly? He did not care at the moment. The idea of a bed was too soothing to resist…

-X-

“Hibari wants to see me?”  
  
The morning after the ‘Alchemy Incident’, as Tsuna had decided to call it, had started with Kusakabe messaging him that Hibari wanted to see him. The brunette followed the pompadour-adorned — _pompadorned_ — upperclassman to the DC Offices, to the one next to the Main Office. A quick peek through the fourth door -next to the Storeroom, where Tsuna got his Brass Knuckles- showed an empty room seemingly used for sparring, if the benches and mats were any indication.

“Yeah, he always wants to meet new members. See what they’re made of.” Kusakabe slid open the door to Hibari’s office, and the two stepped in. The classroom was divided into two parts by walls, likely added at Hibari’s instruction. One, a small ‘room’ containing a desk, an office chair, and a computer roughly one eighth of the classroom (by Tsuna’s math, at least). And two, walled off from the ‘entry room’, Hibari’s office. Very… sparse. Aside from a desk and two couches with a table between them, it was empty. Of people as well as furniture.

“Kusakabe-san, I don’t think he’s here.”  
  
No sooner than Tsuna finished speaking did a chill wash over him.

**[[REDACTED] INTUITION ACTIVATED.]**

In a display of dexterity that contradicted his average AGI score, Tsuna simultaneously spun to face his attacker, jumped back, and lifted his bookbag to intercept the surprise attack, the assailant’s steel weapons glinting in the light. Even despite his efforts, Hibari launched Tsuna against the wall, HP reduced to 3.

**[PHYSICAL ENDURANCE HAS LEVELED UP x3]**

**[RELATIONSHIP INCREASE WITH HIBARI KYOYA [MINOR]]**

“Hm.”  
  
Tsuna stood on shaking legs, using the wall as support. His HP was regenerating but holy hell, that was close. Hibari -THE Hibari, scourge and protector of Namimori- just looked at him. His tonfa were tucked away somewhere, and his jacket hung over his shoulders like a cape. After a minute of staring he spoke to Kusakabe.

“Tougher than he looks.”  
  
And with that, the Demon Prefect walked over to the window and proceeded to jump out.

 _What?_  
  
“What?”

“Well, he approves.” Tsuna looked towards Kusakabe, who was smiling slightly.  
  
“ _What?!_ ”

“If he didn’t like you, you would have been bitten to death. You’re standing, so Hibari seems to think you’re alright.”

“WHA- No, that’s it, no more thinking about it. Let’s just… go somewhere that isn’t here.”

‘Somewhere that isn’t here’ turned out to be the Main Office, where Kusakabe showed Tsuna how to operate the spreadsheet program on one of the computers, claiming ‘ _it would be good to have someone besides me willing and able to do paperwork_ ’. It wasn’t actually that hard, and Tsuna kind of enjoyed it. Maybe it was just because he was spending time with someone who might one day become a friend, but still. It was nice. And hey, who knows! Maybe he’d get a paperwork Skill! Probably not, there was no way such a useless thing would be a-

**[FOR REPEATING AN ACTION, YOU HAVE GAINED A NEW SKILL**

**[PAPERWORK] (Passive) LEVEL 1**

**The ability to comprehend, create, and fill out spreadsheets, forms, and graphs. Invaluable to any organization.**

Tsuna’s head thumped onto the desk. The Game just _loved_ mocking him, didn’t it.

“Sawada?”  
  
Tsuna sat up, waving a hand. “It’s nothing, I just forgot something last night. Let’s keep going.” It seemed like The Game was intelligent and got its kicks from messing with him. Joy.

Wait. Speaking of kicks…

“Kusakabe, do you guys have any steel toed boots in my size?”

-X-

**STEEL-TOED BOOTS**

**(LIGHT ARMOR, FEET)**

**RANK: E**

**TYPE: NONE**

**Good for hiking and kicking, these boots are appreciated by delinquents and fighters around the world. Effect: +1 STR.**

-X-

“Irie!”  
  
“Huh?” Shoichi looked up from the magazine stand he was perusing. Jogging towards him was the one who spoke— No-Good Tsuna, who had beaten up three delinquents yesterday morning. Was running towards him. Beaten up. Towards him. Yesterday morning. DELINQUENTS. _HIM_. **_NO-GOOD._**

Before Shoichi could faint, stress-vomit, or run away, Tsuna had skidded to a halt in front of him, and presented him with- The robotics book he had thrown yesterday?  
  
Shoichi opened his mouth— and closed it as Tsuna beat him to the punch. “Here’s that book you threw, hope no one bullies you anymore, see you around maybe, got to go bye!” The brunette sprinted away, and Shoichi was left trying to comprehend what just happened.

-X-

**[QUEST COMPLETED]**   
**COURIER**   
**Irie Shoichi left his book behind. Be a good person and return it.**   
**REQUIREMENTS:**   
**RETURN BOOK [1/1]**   
**REWARD:**   
**100 EXP**   
  


**-X-**

Serpent’s Cave was an apt name for the new dungeon. It was A, a cave, and B, full of monsters called Steel Snakes. About a meter long, covered in metallic scales, very tough to hit, and they were poisonous. The fact that -based on the 10 XP the one Tsuna fought gave- he had managed to beat TEN of the slippery serpents while he was… he didn’t want to say ‘high’, but he was not all there mentally at during the Alchemy Incident… was astounding, and more than a little confusing.

He’d stick to Slimes for now, thank you very much.

-X-

Tsuna held up the vial of green liquid, swirling it gently. One of his new Alchemy recipes, Minor Poison. One Blue Goop, one sample of Aconite (also known as Wolf’s Bane, among other things) that he had found in the Alchemy Incident, and usage of the Chemistry Set.

Crafting things in general seemed weird. His brain sort of… shut off, hands picking things up, mixing, and setting things to a boil using the small Bunsen Burner the Chemistry Set contained (why it was in a CHILD’S Chemistry Set, he did not want to know) without input from his brain.

Weird, but cool. He wanted to do more Alchemy when he had the chance. But after making three Minor Poisons, his supply of Aconite was gone. He’d go foraging again later, and this time he wouldn’t eat random plants.

-X-

**MINOR POISON**

**(CONSUMABLE)**

**RANK: E**

**TYPE: NONE**

**A sample of simple poison, dealing damage while in the bloodstream. Probably illegal, why do you have this? Causes 3 damage per second per 20 seconds.**

-X-

“What does reputation DO?”

It was Saturday afternoon, and Tsuna was going to fight the Boss tomorrow. was lying on his bed, arms crossed behind his head. He had been reviewing what he knew about The Game when he realized he didn’t understand reputation. He understood it as a _concept_ -14 INT was pulling its weight, studying pays off- but not in _practice_.

_Let’s see… it’s not the most important thing right now, but my stat growth has started to slow down. Plus I have the Boss fight tomorrow. A distraction would be nice. Now, there should be a ‘help’ section in the Journal, right?_

With the thought of the word ‘help’ the Journal made itself known -always out of the way, very nice feature- and flipped to a blank page. Tsuna noticed that, aside from the welcome message, it always flipped roughly to the middle of the book, no matter how many pages turned. Weird, but then again, The Game was weird. The page wasn’t blank for long, though. Before Tsuna’s eyes, words began form across the paper.

**[PLEASE STATE YOUR QUESTION/PROBLEM/CONCERN]**

Tsuna blinked. He hadn’t quite been expecting that, but okay. “Uh…What is reputation?”

The pages flipped.

**[Reputation is the measure of how much someone likes or dislikes you, [THE GAMER]. High reputation will allow allies to fight alongside [THE GAMER] more easily, while low reputation may result in allies refusing or interfering with your fights. Reputation can be gained by doing favors for or interacting with the one you wish to gain reputation with, or as a result of Quests.]**

**[Are there any other questions?]**

“How do I see Reputation?” More page flipping.

**[Simply say or think ‘reputation’ with the intent to view reputation.]**

**[Are there any other questions?]**

…This was an opportunity. He could answer every question he had. “What’s all the redacted mean?”

**[If something is [REDACTED], you have not met the requirements to learn about it. Continue to raise [SKILLS] and [STATS] and do [QUESTS] to be more likely to remove something’s [REDACTED] status.]**

**[Are there any other questions?]**

“What’s a Class, and how do I get one?”

**[A [CLASS] is a role given to those with access to [THE GAME], provided they can complete their [CLASS QUEST], which is received when they are at least Level 5 and meet the unique requirements. [CLASSES] receive a unique [SKILL] every five levels.**

**Example: Level 5 Warrior learns the [SKILL] ‘Combat Ready’. Each person’s [CLASS] cannot be changed once it is assigned. Often, a [CLASS] reflects its bearer’s personality in some way, shape, or form].**

**[Are there any other questions?]**

“What’s a Title?”

**[A [TITLE] is a descriptor of that person, providing unique bonuses and occasionally debuffs. Earned through [QUESTS], defeating certain [BOSSES], increasing [SKILLS] or [STATS] to certain levels, or any number of miscellaneous ways. [TITLES] can be swapped at will unless they are ‘bound’, in which case they can only be removed by completing a [QUEST] or changing part of their personality. See your list of [TITLES] and their effects by opening [STATUS] and pressing [TITLE].]**

**[Are there any other questions?]**

That seemed to be worth checking out.  
  
 _Status._

The Journal flipped its pages to the Status page, and Tsuna took a moment to appreciate the stats.

**NAME: TSUNAYOSHI SAWADA**

**TITLE: NO-GOOD TSUNA**

**CLASS: N/A**

**LEVEL: 4**

**EXP: 200/500**

**HP 180/180**

**[REDACTED] 0/0**

**SP 90/90**

**STR 13 (17)**

**END 15 (18)**

**AGI 12**

**WIS 15**

**INT 14**

**CHA 10**

**POINTS TO SPEND: 9**

Okay, so he had caved and spent a Stat point from the level he got while fighting Slimes. Sue him, CHA hadn’t increased once since… was it just Wednesday he had fought those bullies? Huh. Time flies when you’re desperate to improve your life.

It seemed his Stats growth slowed down a bit when it reached ten. Made a bit of sense, 10 was the average score for each stat. Going from sub-average to average required less effort than average to above average. Especially when your ‘training to improve’ was just running, fighting weak monsters, reading textbooks, and talking with people. Not a very structured routine.  
  
Sidetracked! Time to check his Title.

_poke_

The paper felt like normal paper, but when Tsuna retracted his finger, the book flipped (once again) to a new page. On it was a display showing his current Title -No-Good Tsuna- and its effects. As Tsuna read the page, he went from resigned, to confused, to angered, to depressed.

**TITLE: NO-GOOD TSUNA**

**BOUND**

**EFFECT: REDUCE STAT LEVELS AT TIME TITLE IS EQUPPIED BY 80%. SEAL [REDACTED]. SET STAT GROWTH RATE TO NULL. APPLY STATUS EFFECT ‘KLUTZY’, PERMANENT.**

**APPLIED BY: [REDACTED]**

**SEAL STATE: SINGED**

He didn’t know what to do. He wanted to cry, to tear out the page, to throw something, to vomit- Someone had done this to him. _SOMEONE HAD MADE HIM NO-GOOD._

Why would anyone do that? Why would anyone _RUIN_ a child’s life, _ON_ _PURPOSE_?

_calm_

**[[REDACTED] INUITION HAS ACTIVATED]**

So what? Looking at the bottom of the Title’s description, this was a ‘seal’ and it was ‘singed’. That meant, judging by the fire symbol on the Journal, he would probably be able remove the Seal and the Title by growing stronger. He was already ‘average’, except for the status effect Klutzy, which- yep, made him likely to slip, get hurt, and drop things. But it wasn’t his fault. People would stop teasing him for it because it wasn’t his fault!

Tsuna snorted. _Yeah, right_. Who would believe him? Not like he could just say ‘I’m a magic video game character, and someone made me No-Good, so you can’t make fun of me because it’s not my fault!’ He couldn’t show people proof of The Game, because it seemed like their brains just skipped over stuff like the Slime Ring and the Journal. He would have to have other people in The Game, and he couldn’t-

_He could have other people in The Game._

The Game, in the Help section, had talked about allies, and Classes, and other people, and-and Class Quests- He could have other people on The Game, other people to fight alongside him, and help him- but he couldn’t right now.

The Quest description said he needed to defeat the Boss ‘solo’. Without help. But… knowing that he could have people with him…

_I swear… After I beat the Quest, I WILL have people join The Game._

[FOR MAKING A PROMISE WITH UNBREAKABLE RESOLVE, YOU HAVE GAINED 1 POINT OF [CHA].]

…Shit, he hadn’t needed to spend that Stat point after all.

_Maybe I should look at the Reputation page… just to keep myself distracted._

**SAWADA NANA- 85/100**

**Her darling son. Even if you are no-good, she loves you very much.**

**SAWADA IEMITSU- 70/100**

**His little Tuna-Fish! Despite his absence, your father does love you and your mother more than you can know.**

**SASAGAWA KYOKO- 38/100**

**Her friend! She wants to make sure you are safe, but she also thinks you’re nice and funny!**

**SASAGAWA RYOHEI- 60/100**

**His EXTREME LITTLE BRO! You are a member of the Boxing Club, and an EXTREME MAN AMONG MEN!**

**HIBARI KYOYA- 1/100**

**Small animal.**

**KUROKAWA HANA- 20/100**

**A friend of her best friend. You seem less of a monkey than most boys your age, and Kyoko likes you, so you are tolerated.**

**KUSAKABE TETSUYA- 23/100**

**His kohai. You seem to be a promising recruit, and a godsend considering you can actually help with paperwork.**

**YAMAMOTO TAKESHI- 40/100**

**His reliable friend! You gave him some help when he really needed it, plus you are part of the DC, which is cool.**

**YAMAMOTO TSUYOSHI- 25/100**

**His son’s friend. You seem to be an upstanding young man, so you are good in his book.**

**[REDACTED]- 80/100**

**His precious [REDACTED].**

**[REDACTED]- [REDACTED]**

**Potential [REDACTED].**

**NEZU- 3/100**

**His worst student. Takes joy in humiliating you in front of the class.**

**IRIE SHOICHI- 13/100**

**His… something. He is unsure whether he should be afraid of you or thankful to you.**

**MIURA HARU- 35/100**

**Her new friend! You got her wallet back from a thief.**

**MOCHIDA KENSUKE- -1/100**

**His rival. You’ve been talking to Kyoko-chan lately, and he doesn’t like that.**

Mom called him no-good. It honestly hurt about, because of. Well, the seal and the Title.

…He had two people with redacted on their description. He didn’t want to know.

Dad… actually cared about him? That kind of stung, because if he CARED, why wasn’t he ever HOME?

Miura may have had a self-serving memory.

Hibari’s description answered one or two questions and raised many more.

Nezu-sensei was a prick. That is all he had to say.

Mochida needed to get over himself. If he was upset that Tsuna was talking to Kyoko, maybe he should make a dang move. They -that being Tsuna and Mochida- hadn’t even spoken since the end of the previous school year! Though it was odd to know that relationship scores could go into negative…

All in all? Tsuna was sufficiently distracted, and ready for sleep.

-X-

It was time. No school, no distractions, nothing to stop him from facing the Boss, and completing the Quest. He could do this.

“Mom, I’m going for a walk!”

“Oh no you aren’t!” A hand -Mom’s hand- grabbed the back of his shirt and dragged him back into the house. “As glad as I am that you’re leaving the house, I’m worried about you. You’re leaving in the early morning, coming back late at night, I saw BRASS KNUCKLES on your desk-!” Mom cut herself off. “Tsuna. Please, tell me what’s going on. I’m worried about you.”  
  
Tsuna was bewildered, to say the least. “Mom, nothing’s going on.”  
  
Apparently the wrong answer, seeing as Nana leveled a flat, disappointed look at him. “Sawada Tsunayoshi do not stand there and lie to me. I am your mother, and I know when something is happening. Tell me now, or you are not leaving this house.”

Okay, that look was POWERFUL. He could feel himself getting close to blurting out about The Game, but he stopped himself. He couldn’t say anything about that, what could he say? If he talked about The Game, he’d be grounded because Mom would think he was lying, and then he’d fail the Quest, and lose his Skill and Stats, then lose his new friends(?), then he’d be kicked out of-! Oh. Whoops.

“I can’t believe I forgot to tell you. I joined a club at school. It’s the Disciplinary Committee, run by Hibari Kyoya. I need to leave home early to get there on time. I’m sorry I forgot to tell you.” It was a half-truth, but mom accepted it.

“I’m disappointed that you didn’t tell me, but I’m glad that you joined a club. And I know if Hibari-kun runs it, you’ll be safe!” Maybe not safe from Hibari…

Mom shooed him out the door and told him to enjoy his walk. That was a quick turnaround from her earlier mood, but Tsuna didn’t want to complain. He was also, for the first time, grateful for the Hibari family’s near-celebrity status. Everyone in Namimori over the age of five knew about the Hibari’s. What they did exactly, and who they were exactly were the source of many discussions. International spies, Yakuza, the police, just rich people… no one knew for certain. Tsuna didn’t have time to worry about that though, he needed to go crawl behind a dumpster.

-X-

The dungeon was, as always, peaceful. Despite the weird foliage and weirder sky, the only things disturbing the peace were the slimes hopping around, and the sucking-squelching noise that they made when they jumped or were kicked into a tree. Speaking of…

**[DEFEAT THRESHOLD REACHED. BOSS SUMMONED]**

**[GIANT SLIME]**

**< BOSS>**

**FAMILY: SLIME**

**LEVEL: 5**

**HP: 270/300**

The Boss had a high enough defense that it took two points of damage off his STR score, so only 15 points of damage where dealt with each hit. It was also slow.

Once again, Tsuna ducked under its airborne form, and once again, Tsuna swung his hand up, dealing another 15 points of damage.

_Honestly, this is easy. I guess it is just the first boss._

Another _whoosh_ as it jumped through the air, another _squelch_ as Tsuna ducked and punched, another _thud_ as it landed, and another pause as it stopped shaking.

_whoosh-squelch-thud-pause_

_whoosh-squelch-thud-pause_

_whoosh-squelch-thud-pause_

The ‘fight’ continued for a little while, without change. Tsuna was surprised that he almost felt bored, though that could just be Gamer’s Mind making him calm. Another jump, another punch, another impact as it landed, another— warbling cry? A quick usage of Observe showed that it was at 90 HP, over two-thirds of the way finished. Why did it break its pattern? Tsuna’s query was soon answered by the almost literal tidal wave of Slimes that burst out of the surrounding bushes and rushed him.

_Ah, so when the Boss goes below a certain threshold it changes its strategy. Clever, I should be cautious of that the next time I- WHY AM I MONOLOGUING I NEED TO FIGHT!_

Tsuna’s memories of the ensuing fight against the horde of Slimes would simply be a blur of motion, sounds of squelching, and dying Slimes. He didn’t want to kill them, but he didn’t want to die more. He found that fighting so many small enemies was oddly peaceful, his body settling into a groove of _punch-duck-kick-jump-chop-dodge-punch_ that he didn’t need to think about to perform. Acting without thinking was relaxing in way he hadn’t know exi— The Giant Slime tackled him.

_Note to self: When fighting, remember to think. Another Note to self: LEARN TO SWIM!_

Being trapped in the Giant Slime’s translucent body was profoundly disgusting. It was wet, warm, thick, sticky, he couldn’t breathe- overall uncomfortable. And potentially deadly.

_Come on, Tsuna, think! How do you stop something from eating you?_

His mind raced, trying to come with something, ANYTHING, to stop the Giant Slime from eating him. Which was it was doing, why else would it envelop him in itself, that’s how slimes ate in lots of games and manga and anime- oh God he was panicking, he was going to get eaten he was going to _D I E-_

_calm_

Panic faded to background noise, and Tsuna’s thoughts aligned. He would force the Giant Slime to expel him from its body by using one of his Minor Poisons. They did three points damage every second over the course of twenty seconds. It was at ninety HP, subtracting sixty left it with thirty, which was two punches worth of HP.  
  
 _Inventory_

Inside the molasses-like slime, the Journal opened mere centimeters from Tsuna’s fingers. With effort, he managed to wiggle his hand into the pages of the Inventory and grasp a vial of Minor Poison. A few more moments of precious oxygen gone, the bottle had been uncorked and the green liquid was emptied out, coloring the blue slime a teal-ish shade. From what Tsuna could tell, suspended inside the gelatinous form, the Giant Slime scrunched up, before it began shaking. The second part was easier to tell, as Tsuna was suspended in the gelatinous form.

 _SQUELCH_ went the Giant Slime, as well as Tsuna sliding across the Dungeon’s ground. He come to a forceful stop at the base of a tree. Dazed, he watched the quivering slime shake as it tried to expel the poison, health dropping all the while.

_84._

_75._

_60._

_51._

_45._

_33._

**[EFFECT: CONFUSION RESISTED!]**

Tsuna’s brain snapped back to reality. The Giant Slime had fought of the poison, and it’s HP was at 30, according to Observe.  
  
 _Now!_

Fighting his shaking legs, Tsuna managed to get to his feet and stumble-sprint his way forward.  
  
 _Come on, just two hits!  
_  
POW! His first punch sent the Giant Slime rolling back some and down a small hill. He took a step forward, raising his foot and readying it to stomp on the Boss, which was shaking… from fear?  
  
Why was he doing this? Wasn’t this monster a living thing? He couldn’t kill it. But… he couldn’t afford to lose The Game. He had friends, he was smart, he was strong, he was NORMAL! He couldn’t lose that. He… he just had to defeat the Boss, right? Just… one… stomp.

SLAM

The sound of his boot echoed throughout the dungeon. Tsuna’s pounding heart and ragged breathing filled his ears, blocking out all sound. Slowly, gingerly, he pulled his boot back from where he had stomped on the ground next to the Giant Slime.

“I… I don’t want to kill you! Just…GO! LEAVE!”

The Giant Slime stayed for a moment, before rolling down the hill and into the brush. Tsuna let out a shaking breath and flopped back onto the hill.

**[QUEST COMPLETED!]**

**DAME NO MORE**

**You have made a promise to no longer be useless. Will you achieve it, and rise to glory? Or fail, and be sentenced to a pitiable existence?**

**REQUIREMENTS:**

**RAISE ALL STATS TO 10 [COMPLETE]**

**DEFEAT A BOSS BY YOURSELF [COMPLETE]**

**REWARD:**

**LOSE TITLE: NO-GOOD TSUNA**

**500 EXP**

**2000 YEN**

**RANDOM SKILL BOOK**

**INCREASE REPUTATION WITH CLASSMATES, TEACHERS, PARENTS, SASAGAWA KYOKO, AND [REDACTED] (MINOR)**

**HIDDEN REWARDS: 2 OUT OF 3 ACHIEVED!**

**COMPLETED EFFICIENCY: COMPLETE QUEST WITH AT LEAST 24 HOURS LEFT. REWARD: SKILL BOOK**

**COMPLETED DIPLOMACY: SPARE THE BOSS. REWARD: SLIME RING II.**

**FAILED FRUGALITY: DON’T USE ANY SKILL POINTS. REWARD: 5 SKILL POINTS.**

**[LEVEL UP]**

**[YOU HAVE REACHED LEVEL 5]**

**[+5 SKILL POINTS.]**

**[SKILLS HAVE LEVELEED UP]**

Tsuna ignored the rest of the notifications, which showed improved Skills and Stats. Well, he payed attention to the Stats: STR, END, AGI, WIS, and CHA all improved by one. Stat growth really was slowing down, that fight would have earned him at least two points in each a few days earlier.

_Well, I can’t really complain. I beat the Quest, so I can keep The Game. AND I lost the No-Good Tsuna Title. Maybe I have a new one…_

“Status.”

**NAME: TSUNAYOSHI SAWADA**

**TITLE: FLUFFY**

**CLASS: N/A**

**LEVEL: 5**

**EXP: 250/750**

**HP 110/110**

**[REDACTED] 140/140**

**SP 55/55**

**STR 14 (18)**

**END 16 (19)**

**AGI 13**

**WIS 16**

**INT 14**

**CHA 11**

**POINTS TO SPEND: 14**

…What in the Hell kind of title was _FLUFFY_?! Based on name alone, it was barely better than No Good Tsuna! Tsuna let out a long-suffering sigh and tapped the page. _Hopefully it has some decent effects…_ _And hey, the redacted thing has numbers now! That’s a plus._

**TITLE: FLUFFY**

**EFFECT: LESS LIKELY TO BE TARGETED FOR RANDOM EVENTS. APPLY STATUS EFFECT ‘KLUTZY’, PERMANENT.**

**SEAL STATUS: BURNED**

_Huh. That’s… decent? I think? Well, anything is better than No Good Tsuna. I should check out those Skill Books._ The brunette reached his hand into his Inventory and withdrew the two books he had gained. He Observed them to learn their contents and-

Oh. _  
  
OH.  
  
Hell yes_.

Without a second thought, Tsuna agreed to use the Skill Books. Not like these had any downside, after all.

**[USED A SKILL BOOK TO GAIN A NEW SKILL (x2)]**

**[HEAL] (Support) LEVEL 1 COST: 50 [REDACTED]**

**A skill that uses [REDACTED] or [REDACTED] to heal physical wounds much quicker than unaided. More efficient if using [REDACTED].**

**Heals 25 HP.**

**[AUTO-LOOT] (Passive) LEVEL 1 COST: N/A**

**Automatically deposit all items in range into Inventory.  
Range: 1 Meter**

**[UNLOCKED [REDACTED] GAUGE. THE REDACTED GAUGE IS UNLOCKED, AND YOU ARE [REDACTED]-SENSITIVE. YOU ARE CAPABLE OF USING SKILLS THAT REQUIRE [REDACTED], THOUGH INCAPABLE OF USING IT IN ITS RAW FORM.]**

That raised at least one question, but Tsuna didn’t care, the euphoria of victory had just set in. He had beat the Quest! He got to keep The Game! He lacked the vocabulary to describe how he felt, but who cared! He had the opportunity to gain INT and learn new words!

His legs were shaking from excitement, but he managed to stand on his feet. As he made his way up the hill towards the exit, Auto-Loot activated and a storm of notifications indicating Blue Goop, yen, bandages, and other odds and ends were being deposited in his Inventory. _I should check out that Slime Ring II… Later._

Squeezing through the crack in the boulder and out from behind the dumpster felt… freeing. Like he was leaving behind a heavy weight. The alleyway had a pleasant breeze too it, and he stood for a moment, covered in slime and dirt. Simply enjoying the world.

Until a voice broke him out of his thoughts.

“Sawada, what the actual fuck.”

Slowly, fearfully, he turned towards the face of the alley, where Kurokawa, Kyoko, and Yamamoto stood staring at him. Kurokawa in bewilderment, Kyoko in confusion and concern, and Yamamoto in… he couldn’t tell, that smile was a hell of a poker face.

Belatedly, he realized he should have changed out of his slime covered clothes and into something clean. And maybe remember that this alleyway was on a street with heavy foot traffic, apparently including his friends(?) who had watched him emerge from a dumpster, wearing a leather jacket and brass knuckles, covered in slime and dirt.

“Uh… I can explain.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh... I can explain.
> 
> I took an online class for a month starting in late June and ending in late July, THEN I had to go to West Virginia, THEN I started my freshmen year in college two weeks ago, and... I've been not really motivated to write. Hopefully this chapter is good enough to calm your burning rage. Then again, there is the cliffhanger...
> 
> I'm uploading this without much editing, so apologies for any spelling/grammar/math errors.
> 
> THINGS!  
> -I took a more 'episodic-but-not-quite' approach to this chapter, to show lots of time passing quickly. Hope it goes okay.  
> -Certain Quests or events will lead to Tsuna doing more damage to the Seal. I'm thinking it will go Intact>Singed>Burned>Burning>Molten>Destroyed. Or something like that.  
> -Class Quests are/will be a thing.  
> -Some questions answered, maybe.  
> -how do you write fight scenes  
> -Auto-Loot and Healing! Useful skills.  
> -Tsuna needs to stop hiding behind dumpsters.  
> -Hana needs to eat soap.  
> -[REDACTED]-sensitive is Flame-sensitive, and it's like. Tsuna can be consciously aware of Flames and use Skills that require them, but he can't MAKE them. Also, Sky Flames Harmony means they can do ALL the things other Flames can do (destruction, defense, healing, creation), just not as good.
> 
> NEXT TIME!  
> The rumor come out.  
> PAAARRR-TAY!  
> Dungeon crawling, but not lonely.  
> Tsuna eats week-old sushi.  
> And more!
> 
> Thank you for your continued support, even though I am a slow-ass writer who qualifies as 'slightly-above average' at the absolute best. ALSO! I finished reading Reborn. Ending was kinda disappointing, but that's why we have fanfiction.
> 
> edit1: fixed a typo regarding tsuna's title


End file.
